Clinical Features and Histologic Findings in Bladder Pain Syndrome/Interstitial Cystitis

Objectives- to find out whether a correlation exists between denudation of urothelium and diagnosic delay in patients with BPS / IC, secondary aim was to search a correlation between impact of symptoms evaluated with ICSI-ICPI and number of comorbid conditions associated with BPS-IC. Patients and Methods- Fifty-seven consecutive patients underwent cystoscopy under anaesthesia to classify those cases suspected of BPS/IC. As for the evaluation of the ICSI-ICPI scores we considered significant relevant values those ≥ 12. Patients underwent cystoscopy with hydrodistension under general (90%) or locoregional anaesthesia. Bladder biopsies were taken, including detrusor muscle, from those areas with the most apparent bladder wall lesions. All biopsies were then fixed in 4% formalin and sent to the Pathologist for examination.