The effects of bilateral renal transplantation on pelvic hemodynamics and sexual function

Sexual function and internal iliac artery (IIA) patency were determined in 24 patients who had received at least two renal transplants, one in each iliac fossa, at the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins Hospitals from 1975 to 1979. The pelvic hemodynamics of each patient were assessed with a penile/brachial blood pressure index (PBI). The rate of sexual dysfunction, as determined by questionnaires and personal interviews, was 46% (11 of 24 patients) compared with only 21% (five of 24 patients) after a single transplant. Nine of the 11 patients who were impotent had bilateral IIA occlusion and four of these nine had a PBI less than 0.70. One of the four patients regained full sexual function after a revascularization procedure, which confirmed that this impotence had a vascular etiology. Results of this study show that vascular insufficiency, but not necessarily vasculogenic impotence, was present in at least four of the 11 patients who were impotent (36%) and may have been avoidable by sparing at least one IIA during renal transplant procedures.