Comparison of pressure/flow studies with micturitional urethral pressure profiles in the diagnosis of urinary outflow obstruction.

Computer technology has made it possible significantly to improve the technique and interpretation of the micturitional urethral pressure profile (MUPP). Thirty-nine patients with lower urinary tract symptoms have been investigated by this technique and the results compared with those of standard pressure/flow studies. A good correlation was found between the two methods of diagnosing outflow obstruction, but micturitional urethral pressure profiles offered practical advantages in patients who were elderly, immobile or who had severe involuntary voiding, and diagnostic advantages in patients with absent or poor detrusor contractility and those with equivocal pressure/flow studies.