J Korean Androl Soc.  1994 Dec;12(2):123-126.

Analysis of Pharmacologically Induced Erections in Impotent Patients Based on Cavernous Hemodynamic Manifestations

• Chung WS
• Kim SS
• Park YY
• Kwon SW

Abstract

An office intracavernous injection of a vasoactive drug is a widely used screening modality in patients with erectile dysfunction. A positive results, namely a full, sustained, non-buckling rigid erection, has been regarded as evidence of normal vascular status. To assess the validity of this hypothesis, we analyzed the results of intracavernous and postinjection penile duplex ultrasound examination(peak systolic velocity[PSV], end-diastolic velocity[DEV], and resistance index[RI]). According to the respones to the intracavernous injection of PGE1 10microgram , we classified the patients into a good erection group(32 patients), who showed a full erection rigid enough for normal sexual intercourse;a partial erection group(21 patients), whose erection was barely sufficient for intromission;and a non-erection group(13 patients), who showed no response or little expansion of the penis. Of the patients with good erections, 25(78%) showed normal vascular status on ultrasonography, 5(16%) had abnormally low arterial inflow, and only 2(6%) had veno-occlusive dysfunction. Among the patients in the other two groups, 11(52%) of the 21 with partial erections and 8(62%) of the 13 with no erections had corporal veno-occlusive dysfunction. The degree of penile rigidity during pharmacoerection was predicted more correctly by the EDV or RI value than by the PSV. We concluded that corporal veno-occlusive function plays the key role in the process of pharmacoerection.

MeSH Terms

Alprostadil
Erectile Dysfunction
Hemodynamics*
Humans
Male
Mass Screening
Penile Erection
Penis
Ultrasonography
Alprostadil