In 2006, the ESSIC society proposed more rigorous and demanding diagnostic methods with specific classification criteria so that it cannot be confused with other, similar conditions. Specifically, they require that a person must have pain associated with the bladder, accompanied by one other urinary symptom. Thus, a person with just frequency or urgency would be excluded from a diagnosis. Secondly, they strongly encourage the exclusion of confusable diseases through an extensive and expensive series of tests including (A) a medical history and physical exam, (B) a dipstick urinalysis, various urine cultures, and a serum PSA in men over 40, (C) flowmetry and post-void residual urine volume by ultrasound scanning and (D) cystoscopy. A diagnosis of IC/BPS would be confirmed with a hydrodistention during cystoscopy with biopsy.They also propose a ranking system based upon the physical findings in the bladder. People would receive a numeric and letter based score based upon the severity of their disease as found during the hydrodistention. A score of 1–3 would relate to the severity of the disease and a rating of A–C represents biopsy findings. Thus, a person with 1A would have very mild symptoms and disease while a person with 3C would have the worst possible symptoms. Widely recognized scoring systems such as the OLeary Sant symptom and problem score have emerged to evaluate the severity of IC symptoms such as pain and urinary symptoms. Differential diagnosis
The symptoms of IC/BPS are often misdiagnosed as a urinary tract infection.
Early research suggested that the number of IC/BPS cases ranged from 1 in 100,000 to 5.1 in 1,000 of the general population. In recent years, the scientific community has achieved a much deeper understanding of the epidemiology of interstitial cystitis. Recent studies have revealed that between 2.7 and 6.53 million women in the USA have symptoms of IC and up to 12% of women may have early symptoms of IC/BPS. Further study has estimated that the condition is far more prevalent in men than previously thought ranging from 1.8 to 4.2 million men having symptoms of interstitial cystitis.The condition is officially recognized as a disability in the United States. History
Philadelphia surgeon Joseph Parrish published the earliest record of interstitial cystitis in 1836 describing three cases of severe lower urinary tract symptoms without the presence of a bladder stone. The term "interstitial cystitis" was coined by Dr. Alexander Skene in 1887 to describe the disease. In 2002, the United States amended the Social Security Act to include interstitial cystitis as a disability. The first guideline for diagnosis and treatment of interstitial cystitis is released by a Japanese research team in 2009. The American Urological Association released the first American clinical practice guideline for diagnosing and treating IC/BPS in 2011. Names
Originally called interstitial cystitis, this disorder was renamed to interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) in the 2002–2010 timeframe.