Long-term results of obstructive neurogenic bladder in children with myelomeningocele.

A total of 91 children with myelomeningocele and neurogenic bladder were followed up for periods of between five and 10 years. The results of investigations of the upper and lower urinary tracts at the ages of three months, five years and 10 years showed that subvesical obstruction was rare in the infant period but that it increased year by year as the children grew older. By the age of five years 50 per cent of the children in this sample had severe obstructive changes. The study shows that children with neurogenic bladder who reach five or six years of age without developing severe symptoms of progressive subvesical obstruction will stand a good chance of being able to be treated conservatively.