A noninvasive evaluation of autonomic nervous system dysfunction in women with an overactive bladder.

OBJECTIVE To verify the hypothesis that a connection exists between overactive bladder (OAB) syndrome and a bladder-specific dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). METHOD An electrocardiogram recorded heartbeat cycles from the onset of urinary urgency to 5 minutes after voiding in 33 women with an overactive bladder and 176 controls. Power spectral density (PSD) analysis allowed to quantify heart rate variability (HRV), which is in relation to ANS function. Three-dimensional spectrograms and multiscale entropy graphs were used to display HRV values. RESULTS The differences between patients and controls were all significant in the time and frequency domains of HRV (P<0.05), which suggests disturbances in bladder-specific ANS activity in women with OAB. CONCLUSION By quantifying HRV data, PSD analysis provides a simple, noninvasive method of assessing disturbances in ANS activity and monitoring treatment in women with OAB. It can also be used to evaluate other neuronal conditions.