Signal abnormalities of the bladder wall detected by native T₁ mapping in patients with overactive bladder

Native T₁ mapping provides tissue-specific T₁ relaxation times, which can be used to identify structural changes in the various organs. The object of this article was to evaluate the bladder wall of patients with overactive bladder using native T₁ mapping and compare the relaxation times of patients and healthy controls.

Seventeen patients with a diagnosis of overactive bladder and 15 healthy controls were enrolled in this prospective study. All participants underwent pelvic MRI and T₁ maps were acquired. Native T₁ relaxation times were calculated via regions of interest acquired from the anterosuperior wall of the bladder in all participants. Mean T₁ relaxation times of the overactive bladder patients were compared with those of controls.

Overactive bladder patients had statistically significantly higher T₁ relaxation times compared with controls (p = 0.004). In the subgroup analysis, there was no statistically significant difference between males (1113.42 ± 62.4) and females (1176.70 ± 100.9) regarding the T₁ relaxation times (p = 0.165). There were no correlations between age and T₁ relaxation times in patient or control groups (r = 0.057, p = 0.825, and r = 0.052, p = 0.932, respectively).

Native T₁ mapping can identify structural changes in the bladder wall of patients with overactive bladder. This technique has a promising role in the diagnosis of patients with suspected overactive bladder.