Morphometry of the obstructed detrusor: I. Review of the issues

Qualitative and quantitative ultrastructural studies on the rabbit detrusor following partial bladder outlet obstruction indicate the necessity of morphometry in evaluating structure of the dysfunctional detrusor. This report presents a review of the issues involved in such morphometry, as a prelude to presentation of a comprehensive protocol for this purpose in a subsequent report. In the present report, obstructive changes in the structure of smooth muscle are reviewed, the parameters that should be evaluated are defined, the limitations of detrusor morphometry are presented, and the guidelines for a meaningful morphometric protocol for use in future studies on the dysfunctional detrusor are outlined.