#0223

Linking LUTS and heart health: exploring the cardiac implications of urinary symptoms

J. Hsu¹, Y. Lin ¹, C. Luo², C. Hsu¹, Y. Ou¹, M. Tung¹

¹Tungs' Taichung MetroHarbor Hospital, Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Taichung, Taiwan
²Tungs' Taichung MetroHarbor Hospital, Department of Medical Research, Taichung, Taiwan

Introduction:

Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are prevalent in the male population and are commonly associated with various comorbidities. The relationship between specific LUTS characteristics and cardiac function remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the association between LUTS severity, specific urinary symptoms, and cardiac functional parameters as assessed by echocardiography.

Material and methods:

This study enrolled 100 male patients who completed the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and underwent cardiac ultrasound examination. We analyzed correlations between the seven IPSS items (frequency, urgency, nocturia, weak stream, intermittency, straining, and incomplete emptying) and echocardiographic measures, including interventricular septum, left ventricular end-diastolic dimension, left ventricular posterior wall, left ventricular end-systolic dimension, ejection fraction, aortic valve opening, aortic root, left atrium dilation, left ventricle dilation, right atrium dilation, right ventricle dilation, wall motion, mitral stenosis, mitral regurgitation, aortic stenosis, aortic regurgitation, tricuspid stenosis, tricuspid regurgitation, pulmonary stenosis, and pulmonary regurgitation. Subgroup analyses assessed correlations between the summed scores for storage and voiding symptoms and cardiac function. Additionally, we stratified patients by IPSS severity (mild: 0-7, moderate: 8-19, severe: 20-35) to examine associations with cardiac parameters.

Results:

Our findings indicate that as IPSS scores increase, there is a positive correlation with wall motion hypokinesia (p=0.0239), suggesting that more severe LUTS is associated with impaired cardiac wall motion. Furthermore, specific symptoms, including frequency, urgency, nocturia, and weak stream, show significant negative correlations with wall motion abnormalities (p=0.0397, p=0.0237, p=0.0423, and p=0.0184, respectively). Subgroup analysis based on storage and voiding symptoms revealed that both symptom types are negatively associated with wall motion (storage symptoms: p=0.0128; voiding symptoms: p=0.0318), highlighting a potential link between LUTS severity and cardiac dysfunction.