Differential Mechanisms of Storage Symptoms After Stroke: A Symptom Subtype and Lesion Network Analysis
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Background
Storage symptoms after stroke—isolated urgency, urgency with frequency, and isolated frequency—are common but traditionally attributed to a single overactive bladder mechanism via suprapontine disinhibition. However, clinical heterogeneity in symptom presentation suggests distinct underlying mechanisms. We aimed to characterize the neural substrates of three storage symptom subtypes after stroke using comprehensive lesion-symptom mapping.
Methods
We prospectively evaluated 1,498 consecutive subacute stroke patients admitted for inpatient rehabilitation (1,105 men, 73.8%; median age 61 years). Storage symptoms were classified into three subtypes: isolated urgency (n=109), urgency with frequency (n=32), and isolated frequency (n=19). Multivariable logistic regression models with Bonferroni correction identified independent predictors across demographic, clinical, white matter hyperintensity (WMH), brain atrophy, and lesion location variables.
Results
The three subtypes demonstrated largely distinct sets of independent predictors. The left genu of the corpus callosum (aOR=20.06, 95% CI 7.78–51.74, P <0.001) and the inferior frontal gyrus (aOR=3.48, 95% CI 1.81–6.67, P <0.001) were independently associated with isolated urgency and survived Bonferroni correction, together with a right IFG–insula synergistic effect (OR=21.46, 95% CI 10.49–43.88, P <0.001). Urgency with frequency was associated with a broad fronto-cingulate network—the IFG (aOR=11.45, 95% CI 3.10–42.33, P <0.001, surviving Bonferroni correction) and the ACC (aOR=11.53, 95% CI 2.40–55.49, P =0.002)—with diffuse right-hemisphere dominance, older age and brain atrophy. Isolated frequency was associated with anterior corona radiata involvement (aOR=5.46, 95% CI 1.92–15.54, P =0.002) and male sex (aOR=10.62, 95% CI 1.36–82.98, P =0.024), though none reached the strict Bonferroni threshold.
Conclusions
These findings identify three mechanistically distinct post-stroke storage symptom subtypes with separable neural substrates, lateralization profiles, and clinical determinants. The triple dissociation across subtypes supports a discrete pathway model over the traditional unitary OAB framework, providing a neuroanatomically grounded basis for subtype-stratified treatment.
