Vasculogenic impotence and cavernosal oxygen tension

Abstract

Aims of this study: To determine the associations, if any, of cavernosal oxygen tension with vasculogenic impotence.

Materials and Methods: We evaluated penile cavernosal blood gas levels in men with suspected vasculogenic impotence during penile duplex ultrasonography and/or dynamic infusion cavernosometry and cavernosography (DICC). Patients with suspected impotence were evaluated from 1992–1996. Patient ages ranged from 24–75 y (mean 48 y). Eighteen men had arteriogenic impotence diagnosed by abnormal penile duplex ultrasound after injection of a vasoactive agent, and 23 men had venous leakage diagnosed by DICC.

Results: Eighteen men with arteriogenic impotence had the following mean blood gas values: pH =7.38±0.01, PCO2=45.50±0.94, PO2 =65.17±2.16. Twenty-three men with venogenic (venous leak) impotence had the following mean cavernosal blood gas values: pH=7.41±0.01, PCO2=42.26±0.83, PO2=74.17±2.51. The differences in PO2 were significant (P <0.05). A subgroup of men with severe venous leakage had PO2 values that were similar to the low arterial PO2 values.

Conclusion: The low PO2 in patients with arteriogenic impotence, and the subset of men with severe venous leak impotence, support a global concept of low cavernosal PO2 as a mechanism for both arteriogenic and venogenic impotence.