Cystitis cystica

Last revised by Henry Knipe on 23 Apr 2024

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Radswiki T, Knipe H, Ashraf A, et al. Cystitis cystica. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 27 Apr 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-12898

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-12898

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/12898

rID:

12898

Article created:

30 Jan 2011, The Radswiki ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created The Radswiki had no recorded disclosures.

View The Radswiki's current disclosures

Last revised:

23 Apr 2024, Henry Knipe ◉ ◈

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Henry Knipe had the following disclosures:

Integral Diagnostics, Shareholder (ongoing)
Micro-X Ltd, Shareholder (ongoing)

These were assessed during peer review and were determined to not be relevant to the changes that were made.

View Henry Knipe's current disclosures

Revisions:

8 times, by 8 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Urogenital

Cystitis cystica is the same condition as ureteritis cystica and is closely related to cystitis glandularis. It is a relatively common chronic reactive inflammatory disorder that occurs in the setting of chronic irritation of the bladder mucosa.

Chronic irritation from infection, calculi, or even the presence of tumors results in metaplasia of the urothelium. The urothelium proliferates into buds, which grow down into the connective tissue beneath the epithelium in the lamina propria. In the case of cystitis cystica, the buds then differentiate into cystic deposits (whereas in cystitis glandularis, they differentiate into goblet cells). Indeed, in most cases, both conditions can be shown to co-exist histologically.

Etiology

The underlying causes include:

Radiographic features

Whether imaged with conventional intravenous excretory urography or, more recently, with a CT urogram, the appearance is that of multiple, small (2-5 mm) smooth walled, rounded, lucent filling defects projecting into the lumen. Rarely, they can reach 2-3 cm in size ^2-3.

Treatment and prognosis

Treatment consists of removing the source of irritation and surgical excision of the area of inflammation or, in rare severe cases, cystectomy. An association with adenocarcinoma of the bladder has been described; thus, these patients should be monitored.