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Editorial Comment on “First assessment of the validity of the only diagnostic criteria for postorgasmic illness syndrome (POIS)”

International Journal of Impotence Research volume 31, pages 374–375 (2019)Cite this article

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Although there have been groundbreaking advancements in the field of sexual medicine in the recent years, a number of rare sexual problems remain to be better characterized. Postorgasmic illness syndrome (POIS) is one of these conditions, and is characterized by flu-like symptoms (e.g. fever, nasal congestion, itchy eyes, fatigue, myalgias, and concentration difficulties), which start ~30–60 min after ejaculation and continue for 2–7 days [1]. Although this rare clinical phenomenon was initially reported by Waldinger and Schweitzer in 2002 [1], its epidemiology, pathophysiology, and management remain poorly defined [2].

The diagnostic criteria for POIS were proposed by Waldinger et al. [3] in 2011 after evaluating the clinical characteristics of 45 Dutch men with POIS. The authors suggested that POIS patients must fulfill three or more of the five diagnostic criteria, including symptoms, time to onset, setting, duration, and spontaneous disappearance [3]. However, the validity of these diagnostic criteria has not been assessed in a large-scale study.

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References

  1. Waldinger MD, Schweitzer DH. Postorgasmic illness syndrome: two cases. J Sex Marital Ther. 2002;28:251–5.

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  2. Serefoglu EC. Post-orgasmic illness syndrome: where are we? J Sex Med. 2017;14:641–2.

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  3. Waldinger MD, Meinardi MM, Zwinderman AH, Schweitzer DH. Postorgasmic illness syndrome (POIS) in 45 Dutch caucasian males: clinical characteristics and evidence for an immunogenic pathogenesis (Part 1). J Sex Med. 2011;8:1164–70.

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  4. Strashny A. First assessment of the validity of the only diagnostic criteria for postorgasmic illness syndrome (POIS). Int J Impot Res. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-019-0154-7.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Health Sciences Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ahmet Tevfik Albayrak

  2. Associate Professor of Urology, Bahceci Health Group, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ege Can Serefoglu

Authors
  1. Ahmet Tevfik Albayrak
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  2. Ege Can Serefoglu
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Correspondence to Ege Can Serefoglu.

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Albayrak, A.T., Serefoglu, E.C. Editorial Comment on “First assessment of the validity of the only diagnostic criteria for postorgasmic illness syndrome (POIS)”. Int J Impot Res 31, 374–375 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-019-0181-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-019-0181-4

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