World J Mens Health.  2014 Apr;32(1):36-42.

Sympathetic Skin Response in Patients with Vascular Erectile Dysfunction

• Jazayeri M
• Kazemi B
• Aminsharifi A
• Ashraf A
• Naseri M
• Nasseri A
• Vahedi A

Abstract

PURPOSE
We aimed to investigate the utility of sympathetic skin response (SSR) test for evaluating vasculogenic erectile dysfunction (ED) which is the most common type of impotence.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Men in the age group of 28 to 60 years and suffering from vasculogenic ED, as confirmed by a papaverin test and color Doppler sonography, at least for 6 months referred from our university urology department were included. We used the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) for grading severity of dysfunction and recorded the SSR of every patient from the median, tibial, and dorsal nerves of the penis. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), independent t-test and Pearson's correlation coefficient were used for comparing quantitative variables, and Fisher's Exact test was used for comparing qualitative variables. The Mann-Whitney U Test and the Kruskal-Wallis test were performed for analysis of data that were not normally distributed. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.
RESULTS
Forty-two patients were recruited for the study. We found a strong statistical relationship between the IIEF score and the pathologic SSR registered from every mentioned nerve. Patients with abnormal SSR had more severe ED according to IIEF score (p<0.001). In addition, the IIEF score had a significantcorrelation with diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease (t-test; p<0.05).
CONCLUSIONS
Our results confirmed the presence of autonomic dysfunction in patients with vasculogenic impotence via an SSR test. We suggest evaluating the efficacy of the SSR test in patients with vascular impotence for treatment response monitoring in future studies.

Keyword

Autonomic nervous system; Erectile dysfunction; Electrodiagnosis

MeSH Terms

Autonomic Nervous System
Cardiovascular Diseases
Diabetes Mellitus
Electrodiagnosis
Erectile Dysfunction*
Female
Humans
Impotence, Vasculogenic
Male
Penis
Skin*
Urology

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Frequency distribution of risk factors in patients with vasculogenic erectile dysfunction.

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  Fig. 2 Distribution of normal, abnormal, and absent sympathetic skin response in both upper and lower extremities and penis.

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