Mucosal Denudation (Stripping) for Bladder Papillomatosis

Abstract

Ten patients with papillomatosis of the urinary bladder were treated with total or partial mucosal denudation. Regeneration of the mucosa took place within four or five weeks as normal transitional epithelium. Papillomatosis recurred in three cases. In two cases the recurrence appeared in presumably residual bladder epithelium, and in the third patient the operation revealed papillomatous carcinoma (stage T 1, grade 2). Severe contraction of the bladder occurred in one patient and necessitated ileocystostomy.

The rate of recurrence during an observation period averaging 20 months seems to be reasonably low. The risk of bladder contracture can presumably be reduced by limiting the operation to subtotal or partial stripping.