Bladder management, severity of injury and period of latency: a descriptive study on 135 patients with spinal cord injury and bladder cancer.

STUDY

DESIGN

Longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVES

To describe the severity of spinal cord injury/disease (SCI/D), type and management of neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction, tumor characteristics, and bladder cancer latency period in SCI/D patients.

SETTING

Spinal cord injury centers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

METHODS

Data of SCI/D patients diagnosed with bladder cancer were collected between Jan 2012-Dec 2019 in the course of annual surveys in the neuro-urological departments of all 28 centers. Demographic and paralysis-specific data, data on the type and management of neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction, and histopathological tumor characteristics were collected.

RESULTS

Regarding histopathological tumor characteristics, no significant differences were found in 135 individuals with SCI/D when stratified for bladder management without chronic catheterization, SCI/D severity, and ASIA classification. The mean latency period between the onset of SCI/D and the diagnosis of bladder cancer was significantly longer in patients with catheter-free emptying methods compared to patients with intermittent catheterization, and in patients with LMNL (Lower Motor Neuron Lesion) compared to patients with UMNL (Upper Motor Neuron Lesion).

CONCLUSIONS

Urinary bladder carcinomas are late events in the long-term course of SCI/D. Follow-up and approaches to screening must therefore be intensified with increasing duration of long-term SCI.