Non-obstructive detrusor failure. A urodynamic, electromyographic, neurohistochemical and autonomic study.

Twenty-eight patients presenting with persistent loss of the voiding reflex have been evaluated. Those with cauda equina lesions or pelvic nerve injury were distinguished from a group with idiopathic detrusor failure by their abnormal urethral behaviour during filling, and by urethral sphincter electromyography (EMG). Bladder muscle biopsies revealed the presence of presumptive cholinergic fibres in all three groups, indistinguishable in quantity and distribution from normal controls. The implications of these findings for the diagnosis and management of these patients is discussed.