[Vascular penile study with Doppler ultrasonography in subjects without vascular disease]

The Eco-Doppler technique allows a fast, non-invasive and effective study of pental vascularization. Ninety-three subjects, aged 20-66, with no vascular disease were studied: 20 healthy volunteers and 73 with psychogenic dysfunctions. All subjects underwent a baseline study, and 89 a second study after intracavitary injection (ICI) (10 papaverine and 79 PgE1). No differences were seen between both drugs. Flowmetry parameters were analyzed at rest and post-ICI. At baseline, patients with psychogenic dysfunctions showed less diastolic speed (p < 0.05), acceleration (p < 0.001) and resistance index (p < 0.05) than normal subjects. After administration of the drug, no differences were detected between both groups that formed an homogeneous sample. Subjects with no vascular disease presented arterial dilatation after ICI, the vessels appearing with thin and parallel walls, homogeneous lumen and following a straight course. Flow speed parameters experienced significant changes: systolic speed increase by 153 +/- 97% (p < 0.001) and reached 34.7 +/- 9.3 cm/s; increase of diastolic speed was lower; but flow time and acceleration also increases although not significantly due to their high variability. At 20 minutes after ICI the resistance index is 0.83 +/- 0.1, higher (p < 0.001) than that observed at rest, expressing the high intracavitary pressure that exists when full erection is achieved.