Evaluation of Penile Rigidity with Color Doppler Flow Imaging in Chinese Patients with Erectile Dysfunction.

Objectives: To assess the role of color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI) in the evaluation of Chinese patients with erectile dysfunction (ED) and to explore the association between penile rigidity and hemodynamic parameters of CDFI. Methods: Totally 74 ED patients with an age range of 22-69 (median age 47) were included in our study, hemodynamic parameters including the peak systolic velocity (PSV), end-diastolic velocity (EDV) and resistance index (RI) of the penile cavernous artery were measured by CDFI before and after intracavernous pharmacological testing. The degree of penile rigidity was classified according to Schramek grading system. The correlation between the penile rigidity state and its hemodynamic parameters was analyzed. Results: In ED patients, the abnormalities of cavernous artery and dorsal vein could be evaluated by the value of PSV and EDV with combination of penile rigidity. Among different penile rigidity status, the PSV, EDV and RI of the cavernous artery were significantly different (p < 0.05). The RI correlated significantly with the penile rigidity (r(2) = 0.7948). Conclusion: The CDFI hemodynamics of the penile cavernous artery are helpful in the etiological diagnosis of Chinese ED patients and can be used as one of the quantitative indexes for penile rigidity, which is consistent with western guidelines. Copyright (C) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.