Study of the female urethra's submucous vascular plexus by color Doppler.

A total of 67 patients, including 44 continent patients and 23 patients suffering from stress incontinence, underwent color Doppler examination of the urethra. The maximal urethral pressure and the amplitude of the urethral pulse were measured in 35 of the patients. Linear endovaginal sonography was performed in 25 of the patients to define the position of the urethrovesical unit at rest. The submucous vascular sheath was clearly visible. Its average thickness was 3.42 mm and its average length was 11.75 mm. The measurement reproducibility was good. The dimensions of the submucous vascular plexus and its pulsatility decreased with age and increased with maximal urethral pressure and the manometric amplitude of the urethral pulse. By coupling the sonographic data obtained with color Doppler and linear endovaginal sonography in 25 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 15 of 16 stress-incontinent patients.