Relationship Between Heart Failure and Overactive Bladder

The prevalence of heart failure and overactive bladder, both of which are already quite common, will continue to increase as the population ages. Both create caregiver and self-management burdens, but additional research is needed to understand the burden overactive bladder creates for heart failure patients and their caregivers. Emerging evidence suggests a relationship between heart failure and overactive bladder in which they share a common pathophysiologic pathway via the parasympathetic system. The authors conducted a systematic literature review of overactive bladder in heart failure patients from 2007 to the present. Conflicting evidence exists for the role diuretics play in the prevalence of overactive bladder. Further research is needed to better understand the role of heart failure disease trajectory and its medical management in the natural history of overactive bladder. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.