[Role of duplex scanning in the diagnosis of erectile dysfunction]

A total of 110 patients aged 34-74 years who complained of erectile dysfunction (ED) were examined. A control group of 9 patients without complaints of ED was formed to determine the normal condition. Baseline ultrasonography was followed by scanning after intracavernous administration of a vasoactive drug to whose use 59 individuals contended to. In the control group, the variation of PSV values was in the range of 23-59 cm/sec. Among the patients with complaints of ED, the baseline study has indicated normal PSV values in both cavernous arteries in 21 cases of the 110 patients; in the other patients, the baseline cavernous arterial blood flow, such as that in the great arteries, was less than 30 cm/sec. Summing up the data of observations of 59 patients undergone erectile stimulation has ascertained that that 20, 34, and 4 patients were diagnosed as having the isolated arterial form of ED, the arteriovenous form, and venous form, respectively; there was no evidence for the form of vascular genesis in 1 patient. Ultrasonography, including color duplex scanning with Doppler energy flow mapping, and B-mode before and after erectile stimulation with intracavernous administration of an E1-prostaglandin drug, makes it possible to assess the contribution of the vascular component to the pathogenesis of erectile dysfunction.