No abstract

Erection is a hemodynamic event and accordingly, erectile dysfunction (ED) is closely related with ischemic heart disease. We should con®rm that the cardiac condition of the ED patient is safe enough to perform sexual intercourse prior to beginning treatment for ED. Asymptomatic ischemic heart disease cannot be diagnosed only in an interview, but it's dif®cult to perform cardiac exercise tests on all patients complaining of ED. Therefore, screening methods to evaluate patients who should undergo exercise tests are needed. Sixty patients with erectile dysfunction participated in this study. Physical examinations, interviews, and color Doppler examinations were conducted. Chest X-rays and electrocardiograms of all patients in the resting position were obtained, as were electrocardiograms following exercise. Echocardiograms, treadmill test results, thallium exercise scintigrams, and coronary angiograms were obtained as required for diagnosis. Two patients were excluded because they had obvious arteriogenic ED due to perineal injury. Fifty-eight patients underwent Doppler evaluations of their cavernous arteries and heart exercise tests. Fourteen patients (24.1%) were diagnosed with ischemic heart disease. Although six of them had already been diagnosed with ischemic heart disease, eight were newly diagnosed by the exercise tests. Cardiovascular risk factors such as advanced age, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, smoking, and obesity were not suf®cient predictive factors. The mean peak systolic velocity of the patients without ischemic heart disease was 34.6 cmas vs 22.0 cmas in those with ischemic heart disease. Only 3.7% of patients whose peak systolic velocity in the cavernous artery was equal to or exceeded 35 cmas had ischemic heart disease. On the other hand, 41.9% of patients with peak systolic velocity of less than 35 cmas had ischemic heart disease. The sensitivity of peak systolic velocity against ischemic heart disease was 92.9%, and speci®city was 59.1%. In ED patients, incidences of complications involving symptomatic or asymptomatic ischemic heart disease were found to be high. The peak systolic velocity in the cavernous artery is thought to be a useful predictive factor of ischemic heart disease in ED patients. When a patient reveals a peak systolic velocity of less than 35 cmas, he should undergo heart exercise tests prior to treatment of ED.

Objective To compare computed tomography (CT) angiography (CTA) obtained by multi-slice CT (a new minimally invasive method) with the current standard of arterial imaging, digital subtraction angiography (DSA), in diagnosing arteriogenic erectile dysfunction (ED). Patients and methods Twenty-one patients with suspected arteriogenic ED underwent DSA and CTA after providing informed consent. Prostaglandin E1 was injected into the penile cavernosal body and then non-ionic contrast medium was rapidly infused into the antecubital vein. The DSA and CTA images were diagnosed as showing a normal or abnormal status by three reviewers independently. CTA was undertaken on an outpatient basis but DSA required hospitalization. Results In the 42 internal pudendal arteries, DSA showed 28 normal and 14 impaired arteries; CTA showed 21 normal arteries and 21 occlusions. The CTA image correlated closely with the diagnosis of stenosis or occlusion in internal pudendal arteries, with a sensitivity of 93%, a speci®city of 71% and an accuracy of 79%. In the cavernosal arteries, DSA depicted 14 normal and 28 impaired arteries; CTA showed seven normal arteries and 35 occlusions. The CTA image agreed closely with the diagnosis of stenosis or occlusion in cavernosal arteries, with a sensitivity of 96%, a speci®city of 43% and an accuracy of 79%. Of the 42 inferior epigastric arteries, DSA could not depict 11 arteries but CTA showed all 42 inferior epigastric arteries. Conclusions CTA images correlated with DSA images; at present DSA is better than CTA in visualizing stenosis in ®ne arteries. However, CTA is less invasive and relatively inexpensive, and in future will probably provide even greater improvements in graphic quality. CTA would be an adequate replacement for DSA in evaluating internal pudendal arterial stenosis.

pressure indicated veno-occlusive dysfunction. RESULTS• Forty-five of the 55 patients were diagnosed with corporal veno-occlusive dysfunction. 3D-CT cavernosography revealed drainage veins in all 45 cases, including cavernous veins, dorsal veins, crural veins and other emissary veins.• Compared with 3D-CT cavernosography, observing cavernous veins and the proximal part of the deep dorsal veins using MIP imaging was especially difficult because the origins of the penile veins are often behind the pelvic bone or cavernous body.• Of the patients who seemingly had leakage via the deep dorsal vein, 80.6% did not in fact have leakage via this vein, but had other leakages. The image resolution of 3D-CT cavernosography was significantly higher than that of MIP. CONCLUSION• 3D-CT cavernosography can provide highresolution images of venous drainage from any angle. We conclude that the images obtained by 3D-CT cavernosography are very helpful for both the diagnosis of corporal veno-occlusive dysfunction and the anatomical study of the human penile venous system. What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Venous ligation surgery has been conducted as a symptomatic treatment, but the effective rate of this surgery was insufficient. We thought that one of the reasons for the low effective rate of this surgery was insufficient for the diagnostic modality. We confirmed that 3D cavernosography was, in comparison with conventional cavernosography, higher in diagnosis precision. OBJECTIVE• To examine the feasibility of threedimensional (3D) CT cavernosography in the diagnosis of corporal veno-occlusive dysfunction. PATIENTS AND METHODS• The subjects were 55 patients who had failed to respond to phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors. We performed pharmacodynamic infusion cavernosometry and cavernosography, using 60 mg papaverine hydrochloride.• Cavernosography was performed at 90 mmHg intracavernous pressure, using a multi-slice CT scan system. The 3D images were reconstructed using AQUARIUS NET STATION , ver.2 computer software.• For comparison with conventional cavernosography, maximum intensity projection (MIP) images were used. A flow of 20 mL/min or being more capable of maintaining 90 mmHg of intracavernous