title: Clitoral blood flow increases following vaginal pressure stimulation.
abstract: The vascular responses of clitoral arteries to vaginal pressure stimulation in 10 volunteer women were evaluated by Doppler ultrasonography. Pressure stimulations (20-160 mm Hg) along the lower third of the vagina increased blood velocity and flow into clitoral arteries in 9 of the 10 women. The latency and duration of the Doppler responses ranged from 0.1 to 1.6 sec and from 3.2 to 9.5 sec, respectively, and the response was associated with a blood flow increase of 4 to 11 times the baseline prestimulation level. This response parallels that recorded in the cavernous arteries in men when a similar range of pressure stimulations are applied to the glans penis. Similar responses evoked in the male and female suggest a sexual synergy that may occur during intercourse in that such physiological responses and reflexes may be reciprocally reinforced.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche sur les Dysfonctions Sexuelles, Clinique Saint Maurice, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lavoisier
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aloui
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Watrelot
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D002987:Clitoris / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D011312:Pressure; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler; D014621:Vagina