The value of MRI in assessment of the functional disorders of stress urinary incontinence in women

Objective To investigate the application value of MRI in evaluating the disorders of pelvic floor in female stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Methods From January 2017 to January 2019, the patients in the SUI group and the control group of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University were prospectively collected. Some patients in the SUI group were treated with tension-free vaginal tape (TVT). The dynamic MR was performed in both SUI patients and volunteers, and the following functional MR parameters were assessed between two groups: the urethral length and urethral hypermobility; the opening of urethral and bladder neck; and the pelvic organ prolapse. For SUI patients, the functional changes of the pelvic floor on MRI after TVT was also analyzed. Chi-square test, rank-sum test and t test were used. Results Comparing with the control groups (n=25), the urethral hypermobility, shortening functional urethral length, bladder neck funneling and urethra opening were significantly associated with SUI group (n=33). Thirty one patients were treated with TVT, 12 of them were reexamined with MRI at 3 to 6 months after operation. Postoperative MR showed that SUI patients had lower risk of the urethral opening and bladder neck funneling (P 0.05). Conclusion MRI can accurately evaluate pelvic floor function of SUI patients. However, TVT did not significantly improve weak pelvic supporting structures and pelvic organ prolapse. Key words: Urinary incontinence, stress; Magnetic resonance imaging; Tension-free vaginal tape; Pelvic floor disfunction; Pelvic floor