The dynamic pressure response to rapid dilatation of the resting urethra in healthy women: an in vivo evaluation of visco-elastic properties

The urethral pressure response to a sudden forced dilatation was studied at the bladder neck, in the high-pressure zone and in the distal urethra in ten healthy female volunteers. The pressure response was fitted with a double exponential function of the form Pt = Pequ + P alpha e-t/tau alpha + P beta e-t/tau beta, where Pequ, P alpha and P beta are constants, and tau alpha and tau beta are time constants; this equation has previously been demonstrated to describe the pressure decay following dilatation. On the basis of a theoretical model the elastic and viscous constants for the urethral tissues were computed. The results showed significant differences along the urethra, with the high-pressure zone showing the highest maximum and equilibrium pressures, fastest pressure decay and highest elastic coefficient. The pressure response represents an integrated stress response from the surrounding structures, which reflects the visco-elastic properties of the tissues involved. The findings seem therefore to correlate well with the anatomical findings, which have shown a high fibre density of the horseshoe-shaped rhabdosphincter in the mid-portion of the urethra. The method permits a detailed assessment of static and dynamic urethral responses to dilatation which can be applied as an experimental simulation of urine ingression, and is therefore presumed to be of value in the evaluation of normal and pathological urethral sphincter function.