[Hypothalamus may be involved in psychogenic erectile dysfunction].
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.
Wang
Tao
T
Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430030, China.
Liu
Bo
B
Wu
Zhi-Jian
ZJ
Yang
Bo
B
Liu
Ji-Hong
JH
Wang
Jun-Kai
JK
Wang
Shao-Gang
SG
Yang
Wei-Min
WM
Ye
Zhang-Qun
ZQ
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
D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18