Vasculogenic impotence and cavernosal oxygen tension.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the associations, if any, of cavernosal oxygen tension with vasculogenic impotence.


METHODS
We evaluated penile cavernosal blood gas levels in men with suspected vasculogenic impotence during penile duplex ultrasonography and/or dynamic infusion cavernosometry and cavernosography (DICC). Patients with suspected impotence were evaluated from 1992-1996. Patient ages ranged from 24-75 y (mean 48 y). Eighteen men had arteriogenic impotence diagnosed by abnormal penile duplex ultrasound after injection of a vasoactive agent, and 23 men had venous leakage diagnosed by DICC.


RESULTS
Eighteen men with arteriogenic impotence had the following mean blood gas values: pH = 7.38+/-0.01, PCO2 = 45.50+/-0.94, PO2 = 65.17+/-2.16. Twenty-three men with venogenic (venous leak) impotence had the following mean cavernosal blood gas values: pH = 7.41+/-0.01, PCO2 = 42.26+/-0.83, PO2 = 74.17+/-2.51. The differences in PO2 were significant (P<0.05). A subgroup of men with severe venous leakage had PO2 values that were similar to the low arterial PO2 values.


CONCLUSIONS
The low PO2 in patients with arteriogenic impotence, and the subset of men with severe venous leak impotence, support a global concept of low cavernosal PO2 as a mechanism for both arteriogenic and venogenic impotence.
Brow
S L
SL
Department of Urology, University Hospitals of Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.
Seftel
A D
AD
Strohl
K P
KP
Herbener
T E
TE
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001158:Arteries; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D018783:Impotence, Vasculogenic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood*; D010313:Partial Pressure; D010413:Penis / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011859:Radiography; D018616:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Duplex; D014680:Veins / Q000503:physiopathology
D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D010100:Oxygen