Racial Variation in Membranous Urethral Length and Postprostatectomy Urinary Function.

Overview

Urinary incontinence remains a significant post-prostatectomy sequalae. While many patient and technical factors have been found to contribute to post-prostatectomy incontinence, the impact of anatomical differences by races has not been studied . Shorter preoperative membranous urethral length (MUL) on prostate MRI has been associated with higher risk of post-prostatectomy incontinence. We compared MUL in Asian and non-Asian men and their post-prostatectomy urinary function using the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite for Clinical Practice (EPIC-CP). We found that MUL was significantly shorter for Asian vs. non-Asian men (7.9mm, 95% confidence interval [CI] 7.5-8.3 vs. 10.9mm, 95%CI 10.2-11.7 - mean difference 3.0mm, 95%CI for mean difference 2.15-3.87; p<0.01) and that Asian men had significantly worse EPIC-CP urinary score ≥12 months post-prostatectomy (3.82; 95%CI 2.47-5.17 vs. 1.95; 95%CI 1.11-2.79 - mean difference: 1.87; 95% CI for mean difference is 0.32-3.42; p=0.022). Confirmatory studies are needed to explore racial differences in MUL and its effect on post-prostatectomy urinary incontinence.