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Role of radionuclide phallogram in therapeutic decision-making for erectile dysfunction
E M Smith1, I C Netto, K H Gladden
1Department of Radiology, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, USA.
Objective:
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of radionuclide phallograms in therapeutic decision-making for erectile dysfunction.
Method:
Forty-eight impotent men being considered for pharmacologically-induced penile erection therapy (PIPE) had radionuclide phallograms (RP) as part of their evaluation. RP were performed using 99mTc-labeled autologous red blood cells and provided a measurement of penile blood volume (PBV) change following the intracorporeal injection of 0.25 to 0.3 mL of a papaverine/phentolamine mixture.
Results:
Thirty-eight patients showed a good response with a mean PBV increase 2.6 times baseline (range 1.2 to 8.9). Ten patients had significantly lower PBV changes (P = 0.001) than the first group, with a mean PBV increase of 1.6 times baseline (range 1.1 to 2.4). These ten patients were dissatisfied with pharmacologically induced penile erection (PIPE) therapy after an unsuccessful treatment trial.
Conclusion:
We conclude that the RP can help to discriminate between patients who will benefit from PIPE therapy and those who will not.