PBL Topic 4 Case 8 Flashcards
Identify the two main steps of micturition
- Bladder fills until tension in its wall rises above a threshold
- Which elicits a nervous reflex that empties the bladder
Identify the two parts of the bladder
- Body (major part)
- Neck (funnel shaped inferior part)
What name is given to the smooth muscle of the bladder?
- Detrusor muscle
What is the main function of the detrusor muscle?
- Emptying the bladder
What is the trigone?
- Triangular shaped area
- With a smooth mucosa
- Upper two apices receive the ureters
- Lower apex opens into urethra
What is the internal urethral sphincter composed of and what is its function?
- Involuntary smooth muscle
- Prevents emptying of bladder until pressure in the body of the bladder rises above a threshold
- Controlled by micturition centre in periaqueductal gray
What is the external urethral sphincter composed of and what is its function?
- Voluntary skeletal muscle
- Used to consciously prevent urination
What is the main innervation to the bladder?
- Pelvic nerves
- Which carry sensory and motor signals
- Which connect through spinal cord through sacral plexus
- Connecting to cord segments S2-S3
What are the sensory and motor functions of nerves supplying the bladder?
- Sensory: Detects degree of stretching
- Motor: Contraction of detrusor muscle, emptying of bladder
What is the function of the pudendal nerve in the innervation of the bladder??
- Innervates the external urethral sphincter
What is the function of the sympathetic chains in the innervation of the bladder?
- Stimulate blood vessels
Which nerves do the fibres of the sympathetic chain pass through to innervate the bladder?
- Hypogastric nerves
- Connecting mainly with L2 of spinal cord
Outline the process of renal emptying of urine
- Stretching of renal calyces as they are filled with urine
- Which increases inherent pacemaker activity
- Which initiates peristaltic contractions
- Which spread to renal pelvis along ureters
- Forcing urine from the renal pelvis into the bladder
What is the role of sympathetic and parasympathetic signals to the ureters?
- Parasympathetics enhance peristaltic contractions
- Sympathetics inhibit peristaltic contractions
What is vesicoureteral reflux?
- Shorter course of ureter in the bladder
- Contraction of bladder does not fully occlude ureter
- Causing reflux and enlargement of ureters
- Increasing pressure and damaging renal calyces and medulla
What is the ureterorenal reflex?
- Blockage of ureter stimulates pain fibres
- Which causes constriction of renal arterioles
- Decreasing urine output from kidney
- To prevent excess flow into the renal pelvis with a blocked ureter
What causes a micturition reflex?
- Stretch reflex initiated in posterior urethra as bladder fills
- Which is conducted to sacral segment of cord
- And reflexively back again to bladder through parasympathetic nerve fibres
Why is the micturition reflex considered to be self-regenerative?
- Initial bladder contraction activates stretch receptors
- To cause a greater increase in sensory impulses
- Which causes a further increase in bladder contraction
- This process begins to fatigue, permitting bladder relaxation
Identify a secondary reflex caused by the micturition reflex?
- A reflex passes through pudendal nerve
- To inhibit the external urethral sphincter
- If this inhibition is more potent in the brain than the sphincter muscles urination will occur
Where are the strong facilitative and inhibitor centres for micturition located in the brain?
- Pons
How does voluntary urination occur?
- Person contracts abdominal muscle
- Which increases pressure in bladder
- Allowing extra urine to enter bladder
- Which stimulates stretch receptors
- Excites micturition reflex /reflex inhibition of external sphincter
Outline the pathophysiology of atonic bladder
- Sensory nerve fibres from bladder are destroyed
- Preventing stretch signals from bladder
- Bladder fills to capacity and overflows a few drops at a time (incontinence)
Identify two causes of atonic bladder
- Crush injury to sacral region of spinal cord
- Damage to dorsal root fibres in neurosyphilis (tabes syphilis)
Outline the pathophysiology of automatic bladder
- Loss of facilitative impulses from brain stem and cerebrum
- Micturition reflex can still occur they are just no longer controlled by brain
- Micturition reflex can be stimulated by catheterisation or stimulating the skin in the genital region
Outline the pathophysiology of uninhibited neurogenic bladder
- Damage to spinal cord and brainstem
- Which interrupts the inhibitory signals
- Which results in frequent and uncontrolled micturition
Outline the physiologic anatomy of the male sexual organs
- Sperm formed in seminiferous tubules of testes
- Sperm empties into epididymis then into ductus deferens
- Which receives seminal vesicles and empties into prostate
- Prostate empties into ejaculatory duct then into urethra
- Which receives mucus from bulbourethral glands
Identify contents of the prostatic secretions
- Calcium
- Citrate ion
- Phosphate ion
- Clotting enzyme
- Profibrinolysin
How are prostatic secretions added to the semen
- Simultaneous contraction of prostate gland and ductus deferens
What is the pH of prostatic secretions? What is the importance of this?
- Slightly alkaline
- Neutralises acid of vas deferens and vaginal secretions
- Optimum motility and fertility of sperm at pH of 6-6.5
Which hormone is responsible for growth of the prostate? Describe the growth pattern of the prostate
- Testosterone
- Remains small during childhood and begins to grow at puberty
- Reaches a stationary size by 20
- May involute after 50 with decreases testosterone production
Which cells of the testes secrete testosterone?
- Interstitial cells of Leydig
Which hormone stimulates testosterone production?
- LH
Outline the formation of testosterone from acetyl-CoA
- Cholesterol is synthesised from acetyl-CoA
- Followed by production of intermediate hormones (17-a hydroxypregnenolone and DHEA)
- And finally androstenedione
- Which is converted to testosterone
When does LH secretion begin?
- Puberty
Identify the effects of testosterone on the male sexual organs
- Maturation of reproductive organs
- Development of secondary sexual characteristics
- Thereafter, maintenance of spermatogenesis (Sertoli cells)
- Maturation of spermatozoa
Identify the anabolic effects of testosterone
- Development of musculature
- Increased bone growth
- Closure of epiphyses following puberty
Outline how testosterone exerts its effects on cells
- Testosterone converted to dihydrotestosterone
- By 5a-reductase
- Binds to testosterone receptors
- Modifies gene transcription by interacting with nuclear receptors
What is benign prostatic hyperplasia?
- Non-neoplastic enlargement of prostate gland
Outline the epidemiology of BPH
- Occurs commonly and progressively after 50
- Affects 75% of men aged 70-80 years
Outline the aetiology of BPH
- Dihydrotestosterone activates gene transcription to promote cell growth and survival
- Causing proliferation of glands and stroma of the transition zone
- Contraction of hyperplastic smooth muscle mediated by alpha-adrenergic receptor
- Role of persistent inflammation resulting in secretion of growth-promoting cytokines
Outline the morphology of BPH
- Hyperplasia in both lateral lobes
- Hyperplasia of periurethral glands projecting into bladder giving a median lobe
- Circumscribed nodules and cysts
Outline the four main pathological mechanisms in the development of symptoms in BPH
- Hyperplastic nodules compress prostatic urethra, distorting its course
- Involvement of periurethral zone interferes with sphincter mechanism
- Contraction of hyperplastic smooth muscle
- Inflammatory cell infiltration
Identify the three groups lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS)
- Bladder sensation symptoms (increased or decreased)
- Storage symptoms (frequency, nocturia, urgency, incontinence)
- Voiding symptoms (hesitancy, poor stream, straining, dribbling)
Outline the findings of a DRE in BPH
- Asymmetrical enlargement of both lateral lobes
- Gland has a firm, rubbery consistency
Outline the pathology of hydroureter identify a complication of it
- Continued bladder obstruction causes hypertrophy and trabeculation
- Which fails and allows reflux of urine
- Which causes dilation of ureters
- Results in dilation of renal pelvises (bilateral hydronephrosis)
Why does cystitis occur in BPH? What are the symptoms
- Residual urine causes cystitis due to coliform organisms
- With dysuria, haematuria and increased frequency
Outline a complication of cystitis
- Ascending infection causes pyelonephritis with impaired renal function
- Which can result in the formation of calculi and septicaemia
Identify the investigations in the diagnosis of BPH
- Scoring of symptoms using IPPS
- Microbiological exam for evidence of infection
- U+E for kidney function
- Ultrasonography indicated enlarged prostate and obstruction
- Elevated prostate specific antigen to rule out cancer
Outline the management of BPH
- Pharmacological treatments e.g. finasteride and tamsulosin, anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics
- Urethral catheter drainage in acute retention
- Surgery (transurethral resection of hyperplastic prostate tissue) where catheterisation is impossible
Outline the mechanism of action of finasteride
- Inhibits 5a reductase
- Reduced dihydrotestosterone formation
Outline the mechanism of action of tamsulosin
- a1A receptor antagonist
- Relaxation of smooth muscle of bladder neck
- Inhibition of hypertrophy
Why is tamsulosin preferred over other alpha receptor antagonists
- Selective for bladder
- Causes less hypertension
Identify an adverse effect of tamsulosin
- Failure of ejaculation
Identify a difference in the indication of finasteride and tamsulosin
- Finasteride indicated when prostate > 40 cm3
- Tamsulosin indicated when prostate < 40 cm3
Outline the epidemiology of prostate cancer
- Second leading cause of male death from malignancy in Europe/USA
- Incidence is 40,000, with 10,000 deaths annually
- Peak incidence between 65-75
- Rare below 50
Which zone do most prostate tumours arise?
- Peripheral zone
Why can prostate carcinoma arise after transurethral resection?
- This operation does not remove the peripheral zone
What type of tumour are most prostate cancers?
- Adenocarcinoma
- Often described as microacinar