Introduction and Definitions

Abstract

Until relatively recently the basic mechanisms which control the function of the human lower urinary tract were essentially unknown. However, the advent of sophisticated electromanometric techniques enabled considerable progress to be made in pressure and flow analyses within the bladder and urethra (Cardus et al. 1963). Attention was first directed towards motor abnormalities of the lower urinary tract, detrusor contraction waves being vividly recorded by increasingly sophisticated means. Thus scientific discussion commonly centred around the unstable bladder, obstructive voiding and urethral pressure profiles (Bates 1971; Turner-Warwick et al. 1973; Brown and Wickham 1969). Nevertheless, as information accumulated, it became evident that there were a number of disorders which, despite the presence of severe symptoms apparently originating from bladder or urethra, characteristically produced only minor changes on cystometry. These subtle changes were particularly difficult to interpret because of a lack of detailed control data.