Clinical diagnostic approach to erectile dysfunction.
Erectile dysfunction (ED) has been defined by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as the inability to achieve and/or maintain an erection for a satisfactory sexual intercourse. Data on ED epidemiology estimate a prevalence of 12-52%; the prevalence in Italy is 12.8%. ED is a symptom, sometimes the first, of numerous internal diseases. ED can mark the point where the evaluation and prevention of illnesses (diabetes, arterial hypertension, atherosclerosis) hitherto unknown by the patient can begin. The andrologist's task is to identify the disorder underlying ED and to plan the appropriate diagnostic work-up.
Caretta
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Clinical Pathology Unit, Department of Histology, Microbiology and Medical Biotechnologies, University of Padua, Via Modena 9, 35128 Padua, Italy.
Foresta
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C
D000465:Algorithms; D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male