Beschreibung:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The bladder wall is composed of passive (collagen, elaftin) and active (smooth muscle) elements. Some of the smooth muscle cells have properties of “pacemakers” in that they show spontaneous activity at rest. Moreover, when these cells are stretched, the resting membrane potentials decrease and the frequency of action potentials increase. It has been further demonstrated that both in vitro muscle strips and in vivo bladder preparations show spontaneous activity which may generate both tonic and phasic changes in bladder wall forces. The rate and duration of stretch both affect the force that the cell can generate. Thus, the filling pressureivolume curve obtained by systometry represents an interaction between the active and passive elements of the bladder wall. Since the cystornetric curve is time dependent, it is impossible to compare cystometrograms unless this time dependency is taken into account. With these principles in mind it is possible to standardize the terminology for characterizing detrusor activity during the collection phase as outlined in this report.</jats:p>