Interstitial Cystitis Diagnosis
In the past, people suffering from interstitial cystitis often went years without receiving an accurate diagnosis, frequently being misdiagnosed as having a common bladder infection . Today, urologists are much more familiar with the signs and symptoms of interstitial cystitis, so accurate diagnosis – and consequently appropriate treatment – is much more likely.
Women are nearly ten times more likely to suffer from interstitial cystitis than men.
Interstitial cystitis is, for the most part, a diagnosis of exclusion, meaning it
is diagnosed only after other conditions are ruled out. Dr. Safir may obtain a urinalysis
to rule out infection and perform a cystoscopy (inserting a lighted scope through
the urethra into the bladder) with bladder distention (inflating the bladder) to
rule out bladder cancer. During this procedure, Dr. Safir may perform a biopsy of
any suspicious tissue through the cystoscope. The presence of lesions known as Hunner’s
ulcers is considered a hallmark of interstitial cystitis; however, the problem is
that only about 5-10% of interstitial cystitis patients have Hunner’s ulcers.