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Impairment of shear-stress-mediated vasodilation of cavernous arteries in erectile dysfunction

International Journal of Impotence Research volume 16, pages 39–42 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Penile NO release test (PNORT) has been designed to try to evaluate clinically the penile endothelial function (PEF). The shear-stress flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) of the cavernous arteries is evaluated in two groups of patients with neurogenic (n=23) and vasculogenic (n=23) erectile dysfunction (ED) by measuring their percent of increase after a 5 min occlusion of the flow. Both groups show an important FMD decrease (17.78±11.78 and 17.82±13%) as compared to the age-matched control group (n=12) (65.14±30.5%, P<0.001). In the vasculogenic and control groups, mean FMD is lower in patients with one or more arterial risk factors(41 vs 67%, P=0.025), and show a positive correlation with the plasmatic levels of bioavailable testosterone (r=0.37, P=0.03) and of DHEA-S (r=0.46, P=0.014). Patients achieving full erection at pharmacological test with visual sexual stimulation have a higher FMD (43.8±38%) than those who did not (18.52±14.37%, P=0.008). We confirm clinically that PEF is strongly impaired in organic ED linked to neurological, vascular and endocrine factors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre d'explorations et traitements de l'impuissance, Paris, France

    R Virag, J Floresco & C Richard

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  1. R Virag
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  2. J Floresco
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  3. C Richard
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Correspondence to R Virag.

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Virag, R., Floresco, J. & Richard, C. Impairment of shear-stress-mediated vasodilation of cavernous arteries in erectile dysfunction. Int J Impot Res 16, 39–42 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijir.3901122

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijir.3901122

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