The Open Andrology Journal

2010, 2 : 37-41
Published online 2010 November 15. DOI: 10.2174/1876827X01002010037
Publisher ID: TOANDROJ-2-37

Urologic Problems in Multiple Sclerosis

Srinivas Pentyala , Sadaf Jalali , James Park , Bilal Chughtai , Praneet Korrapati , Pooja Mysore and Sardar Ali Khan
Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, Stony Brook Medical Center, Stony Brook, NY 11794-8480, USA.

ABSTRACT

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a devastating neurologic disease that attacks young adults and affects all aspects of their lives. Genitourinary dysfunction in MS has a significant impact on quality of life with more than 80% of those with MS reporting genitourinary symptoms. Voiding dysfunction is a prominent problem affecting the majority of MS sufferers. Less commonly recognized, but of no less importance, is sexual dysfunction which affects both men and women with MS. At least 75% of men and 50% of women report sexual dysfunction and suspicions of under-reporting are strong. In this review, physiology of micturition, sexual functioning and disruptions in neural pathways occurring in MS that can result in the clinical syndromes of voiding dysfunction, sexual dysfunction and paraphilias will be discussed. Management of these disorders is also reviewed.

Keywords:

Multiple sclerosis, urology, voiding dysfunction, sexual dysfunction, paraphilias, neurology.