title: [Hypothalamus may be involved in psychogenic erectile dysfunction].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the changes of hypothalamus metabolism in patients with psychogenic erectile dysfunction (ED) so as to get some clues to the possible pathogenic factors and pathophysiological mechanism of the problem.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six cases of psychogenic ED and 4 normal volunteers were studied by positron emission tomography (PET) for the characteristics of hypothalamus glucose metabolism. Following audiovisual sexual stimulation, the concentration of fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (18 F-FDG) was determined and the ratio of the left (right) hypothalamus count to the cerebrum count was calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Audiovisual sexual stimulation significantly increased 18F-FDG in the volunteers (left: 1.026 +/- 0.115 vs 2.400 +/- 0.210; right: 1.003 +/- 0.187 vs 2.389 +0.196, P < 0.05) as compared with the psychogenic ED patients (left: 2.781 +/- 0.156 vs 2.769 +/- 0.223; right: 2.809 +/- 0.129 vs 2.793 +/- 0.217, P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Psychogenic ED may not be simply a functional disease; the hypothalamus may be involved in the pathophysiology of the problem.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430030, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zhi-Jian
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Ji-Hong
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jun-Kai
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shao-Gang
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Wei-Min
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Zhang-Qun
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Ye
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001296:Audiovisual Aids; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D006801:Humans; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D020018:Sexual Dysfunctions, Psychological / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18