STUDY OF THE FEMALE URETHRAS SUBMUCOUS VASCULAR PLEXUS BY COLOR DOPPLER

A total of 67 patients, including 44 continent patients and 23 patient s suffering from stress incontinence, underwent color Doppler examinat ion of the urethra. The maximal urethral pressure and the amplitude of the urethral pulse were measured in is of the patient. Linear endovag inal sonography; was performed in 25 of the patients to define the pos ition of the urethrovesical unit at rest. The submucous vascular sheat h was clearly visible. Its: average thickness was 3.42 mm and its aver age length was 11.75 mm. The measurement reproducibility was good. The dimensions of the submucous vascular plexus and its pulsatility decre ased with age and increased with maximal urethral pressure and the man ometric amplitude of the urethral pulse. By coupling the sonographic d ata obtained with color Doppler and linear endovaginal sonography in 2 5 patients, we obtained a good estimate of the urethral pressure in 83 % of the cases and could correctly diagnose all cases of continence in our series (n = 9) and Is of 16 stress-incontinent patients.