TITLE:
Bladder Neck Morphologic Changes and Clinical Correlation of Smokers Submitted to Radical Prostatectomy
AUTHORS:
L. C. N. Araujo, W. S. Costa, F. O. Vilar, S. V. C. Lima, F. J. B. Sampaio
KEYWORDS:
Smoking; Bladder Neck; Elastic Fibers; Uroflowmetry
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Urology,
Vol.3 No.6,
October
4,
2013
ABSTRACT:
Introduction: Smoking is an important risky factor to many
diseases, affecting arterial system, skin and urogenital system, including
bladder neck stenosis. Its effect on bladder neck has not been described. Objective: Evaluate possible
morphological changes caused by nicotine in the bladder neck. Material and Method: Fragments of
bladder neck of 16 patients were submitted to stereological analysis, and those
patients are divided into two groups, one of smokers and the other of
non-smokers with 7 and 9 patients, respectively. After 90 days of surgery, they
were submitted to free uroflowmetry and data analyzed by T test, having
statistical significance with P 0.05. Results:
An increase of 63.26% in the amount of fibers in the elastic system of the
smokers group was observed, a reduction of 35.96% in the thickness of arteries,
as well as an increase of IPSS and decrease of maximum flow in uroflowmetry, all
with statistical significance. Discussion: Laboratorial changes are similar to those found in other studies with
different tissues, such as skin, in which those findings are related to
premature ageing. Clinical results, though statistically significant, do not
have clinical consistence because the study was meant to morphological
analysis. Conclusion: Smoking
increases the amount of fibers in the elastic system and decreases the
thickness of bladder neck arteries.