Simplified micturitional cystourethrography in female urinary incontinence

Abstract

A new technique of mictional cystourethrography has been developed. The examination is performed with the patient sitting on a radiolucent chair with the feet high on a footstool, in order to avoid the superimposition of the femoral heads in the lateral projection. Fifty patients were examined, 26 of whom were continent and 24 incontinent. The technique allowed the evaluation of the site of the bladder neck, of vesico-urethral angles, and of the urethra. The investigation made it possible to obtain accurate information on the position of the vesical floor relative to the inferior margins of the obturator foramina. It was thus possible to correlate the position of the bladder floor with the clinical symptomatology: in our experience the position of the bladder floor was higher in incontinent that in continent patients. A low position of the bladder baseplate was usually associated with incontinence. Other parameters turned out to be less specific. This paper emphasizes the simplicity and the reproducibility of our technique, which allows a reduction of X-ray exposure dose