Reversibility of Detrusor Hypertrophy and Hyperplasia After Removal of Infravesical Outflow Obstruction in the Rat

The present investigation was performed in order to study the degree of reversibility of changes of the rat detrusor secondary to infravesical outflow obstruction for various periods of time. In a previous study it was shown that outflow obstruction induced both hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the smooth muscle cells. This was determined by means of morphometry and analyses of DNA and RNA. The results of the present investigation confirm the findings of previous studies that these changes to a considerable extent are reversible after removal of the outflow obstruction. This seems to be true both in animals obstructed for a short period of time (10 days) and in animals where the hypertrophy and hyperplasia processes have diminished (six weeks).