Persistence of injectable collagen in human urethra: case report

A polypoid lesion was found near the bladder neck during cystoscopy in a woman with urinary incontinence who had undergone periurethral collagen (Contigen) injections 3 years before. She had previously received radiation therapy in addition to a radical vulvectomy for vaginal cancer. On transurethral resection of the lesion, particles of unresorbed collagen material extruded from the capsulated suburothelial space. Histologic evaluation verified the material as the foreign collagen. The persistence of glutaraldehyde cross-linked collagen in our patient was much longer than previously reported and may have been due to effects of previous radiation treatment.