title: Bladder weight in perimenopausal women aged 50-55.
abstract: This study aimed to determine whether the preliminary factor for the manifestation of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in perimenopausal women is age-dependent morphological changes in the bladder or hypoestrogenism. The bladder weights and the effects of bladder weight changes on LUTS were evaluated in three groups of women within and age range of 50-55 years: premenopausal (n = 29), short-term menopausal (less than 5 years) (n = 38) and long-term menopausal (5 years and more) (n = 31). The comparison of LUTS among the groups was made using the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) questionnaire; the ultrasonographically determined bladder weights of all the women and the duration of menopause were evaluated for the presence of any correlation for their ages. The relation between the bladder weights and the symptom scores was also tested. The bladder weight of women with longer duration of menopause was found to be significantly decreased compared with that of women with shorter-duration menopause within the same age group (p < 0.05). There was significant correlation between the increased duration of menopause and the decrease in the bladder weight (r = 0.2, p = 0.015). When all the women were taken into account, there was no correlation between the ages and bladder weights (r = 0.03; p = 0.76). There was no significant difference among the groups in terms of symptom scores evaluated as single scores, total symptom scores, total irritative and obstructive scores (p > 0.05 for each). The symptom scores had no correlation with the bladder weights or the ages of patients (p > 0.05 for each). In this age group of women the duration of hypoestrogenism does not seem to cause a difference in the symptom scores. To observe a possible significant difference, it is necessary to evaluate older women or women with a longer duration of hypoestrogenism. These findings suggest the cause for the decreased bladder weight to be the higher duration of hypoestrogenism rather than the older age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Erciyes University Medical Faculty, 38039 Kayseri, Turkey. droguz@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Oğuz
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ekmekçioğlu
authors.forename: Ercan M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Aygen
authors.forename: Uğur
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size; D047648:Perimenopause / Q000502:physiology*; D011336:Probability; D018570:Risk Assessment; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000473:pathology*; D014555:Urination Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D014563:Urodynamics