Bladder Wall Thickness is Associated with Responsiveness of Storage Symptoms to Alpha-Blockers in Men with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms

PURPOSE: Bladder wall thickness (BWT) is reported to be related to detrusor overactivity and bladder outlet obstruction. We investigated the relationship between BWT and the responsiveness of storage symptoms to alpha-blockers in men with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 74 patients with LUTS were enrolled. International Prostate Symptom Score, uroflowmetry with post-void residual urine volume, and transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS) were investigated. BWT was measured by performing TRUS at the midsagittal plane view, and the average value of BWT at the anterior, dome, and trigone areas was used. After 4 weeks of alpha-blocker medication, patients were reevaluated and divided into two groups. The responder group consisted of patients who reported improvement in the storage symptom subscore of 2 points or more; the non-responder group consisted of patients who reported improvement of less than 2 points. Clinical parameters including BWT were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: A total of 52 patients were followed. BWT was positively correlated with intravesical prostate protrusion (IPP) (9.26±4.99, standardized beta=0.393, p=0.002) and storage symptom subscore (0.35±0.43, standardized beta=0.458, p=0.002). Compared with that in the responder group, BWT was thicker in the non-responder group, and improvement in the storage symptom score was correlated with BWT (0.58±0.09 cm vs. 0.65±0.11 cm, p=0.018) and prostate volume (27.08±16.26 ml vs. 36.44±10.1 ml, p=0.018). CONCLUSIONS: BWT was correlated with IPP, the storage symptom subscore, and the responsiveness of storage symptoms to alpha-blockers in LUTS/benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients. As BWT increased, the responsiveness of storage symptoms to alpha-blocker decreased in LUTS/BPH patients.