A sign of arteriogenic insufficiency on penile Doppler sonography: retrograde flow in penile cavernosal-spongiosal communications.

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Yavas W. S., ÇALIŞIR C., Kaya T., Degirmenci N.

Journal of ultrasound in medicine : official journal of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, cilt.26, sa.12, ss.1643-8, 2007 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)

Özet

Objective. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic usefulness of determining retrograde flow in the penile cavernosal-spongiosal communications (CSCs) with Doppler sonography. Methods. Thirty-two consecutive men with erectile dysfunction (mean age, 40 years; range, 19-61 years) underwent penile color Doppler sonography. All patients were evaluated for flow direction in the CSCs. Results. Eight of the 32 patients had normal Doppler sonographic findings; 8 had signs of veno-occlusive dysfunction; and 16 had arterial insufficiency. Doppler sonographic examinations of the patients with normal Doppler sonographic findings (100%) and veno-occlusive dysfunction (100%) showed a normal direction of flow in the CSCs. Thirteen of the 16 patients with arterial insufficiency had a normal direction of flow in the CSCs, however, reversal of the flow direction in the CSCs (from the urethral artery back to the cavernosal artery) was observed in the remaining 3 patients. Conclusions. Investigating the direction of flow in the cavernosal artery, CSCs, and urethral artery is not time-consuming and may help establish an accurate diagnosis of arteriogenic impotence, especially in patients with borderline peak systolic flow velocity values.