[Priapism induced by heparin. A more serious prognosis?]

Between 1973 and 1985, 31 patients were treated in the Urology Department of La Pitié hospital for priapism. Analysis of the aetiologies, determined in 25 cases, revealed a particularly high incidence of heparin as an aetiological factor for priapism. Surgical treatment was proposed in 28 patients. Independently of the type of surgical treatment performed and with a comparative preoperative delay, priapism as a complication of heparin therapy appears to be functionally more severe than priapism due to other aetiologies. Although the frequency, mechanism and prognosis of this complication of heparin therapy remain poorly understood, analysis of the 10 cases in this series and a review of the literature nevertheless provide certain answers.