A diagnostic dilemma: when urodynamic findings differ from the clinical impression.

We evaluated prospectively 425 consecutive patients with respect to the correlation between the clinical and urodynamic assessment of the symptoms. A disparity between the clinical and urodynamic diagnosis was found in 45 per cent of the patients who were believed to have storage problems, 25 per cent with emptying problems, and 54 per cent with storage and emptying problems on clinical examination. The reasons for these disparities are outlined and a rationale for including urodynamic studies in the evaluation of patients with voiding dysfunction is presented.