Assessment of normal and abnormal erectile function: color Doppler flow sonography versus conventional techniques

The penile arteries were studied with color Doppler flow sonography in 10 subjects with normal and 39 patients with abnormal erectile function. The relationships of systolic and diastolic velocities to spectral waveform changes in the penile arteries in response to tumescence were studied before and after intracorporal injection of vasoactive medications that induce erection. In normal subjects, a characteristic spectral waveform pattern corresponded to increasing intracorporal pressure. Patients with abnormal arterial inflow and/or abnormal venous sinusoidal leakage demonstrated deviation from the patterns noted in normal subjects. Patients with abnormal arterial inflow had lower mean peak systolic velocities than normal subjects. Patients with severe venous sinusoidal incompetence had an arrest of waveform progression with evolution to but not beyond phases 1 or 2 (diastolic flow remained positive). Patients with abnormal arterial inflow and abnormal venous sinusoidal outflow had waveform changes that reflected both processes. Systolic/diastolic velocity and waveform relationships can be used to define the integrity of both the cavernosal artery inflow and venous sinusoidal outflow occlusion mechanisms.