Urinary incontinence (Ul) affects more than 20% of spayed female dogs, the majority of which have dysfunction of the urethral sphincter. Those dogs that fail to respond to medical management (i.e., phenylpropanolamine, estrogen) for Ul can be very difficult to treat, requiring repeat urethral injections of bulking agents or surgical implantation of a urethral occluding device. Recent studies have assessed the feasibility of using muscle-derived progenitor cell (MPC) injections for the management of Ul in women. We previously demonstrated dogs with induced urethral sphincter mechanism incontinence have functional recovery after injection of autologous MPCs. The purpose of this study was to determine if urethral injection of autologous MPCs in dogs with naturally occurring Ul leads to restoration of urinary continence.
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