Signal abnormalities of the bladder wall detected by native T1 mapping in patients with overactive bladder

• Published in: NMR in biomedicine 2022-09, Vol.35 (9), p.e4748-n/a
• Main Authors: Yalcin, Ahmet, Gultekin, Mehmet Hamza, Erdogan, Abdullah, Cankaya, Bahar Yilmaz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abnormalities; Biological products; Bladder; bladder wall; Diagnosis; Mapping; overactive bladder; Statistical analysis; Subgroups; T1 mapping
• ISSN: 0952-3480; 1099-1492
• DOI: 10.1002/nbm.4748

Object Native T1 mapping provides tissue‐specific T1 relaxation times, which can be used to identify structural changes in the various organs. The object of this article was to evaluate the bladder wall of patients with overactive bladder using native T1 mapping and compare the relaxation times of patients and healthy controls. Material and methods Seventeen patients with a diagnosis of overactive bladder and 15 healthy controls were enrolled in this prospective study. All participants underwent pelvic MRI and T1 maps were acquired. Native T1 relaxation times were calculated via regions of interest acquired from the anterosuperior wall of the bladder in all participants. Mean T1 relaxation times of the overactive bladder patients were compared with those of controls. Results Overactive bladder patients had statistically significantly higher T1 relaxation times compared with controls (p = 0.004). In the subgroup analysis, there was no statistically significant difference between males (1113.42 ± 62.4) and females (1176.70 ± 100.9) regarding the T1 relaxation times (p = 0.165). There were no correlations between age and T1 relaxation times in patient or control groups (r = 0.057, p = 0.825, and r = 0.052, p = 0.932, respectively). Conclusion Native T1 mapping can identify structural changes in the bladder wall of patients with overactive bladder. This technique has a promising role in the diagnosis of patients with suspected overactive bladder. In our study, we have used native T1 mapping to acquire T1 maps of bladders in patients with overactive bladder and compared these with healthy individuals. Our results showed that patients with overactive bladder had higher T1 relaxation times compared with controls. We have concluded that MR mapping can reflect the microstructural changes in bladder wall due to overactivity.