The value of basic investigations in the diagnosis of impotence

172 patients with impotence symptoms were investigated by SBBBV-test, orthostatic blood pressure, Doppler examination of the superficial and deep penile arteries, penile-brachial index, visual sexual stimulation, papaverin test, and measurement of bulbocavernous reflex latency time. Visual sexual stimulation and papaverin test correlated well with each other, and so did papaverin test and PBI in cases of arterial insufficiency. SBBBV was simple to perform and useful in detecting autonomic neuropathy. There were characteristic differences in the pattern of erectile failure between young and old patients. The differentiation to organic or psychogenic erectile failure was easier in the young age groups, whereas the old patients more often had a combination of vascular and psychogenic aetiology.