A COMPARISON OF ISOTOPE PENILE BLOOD-FLOW AND COLOR DOPPLER ULTRASONOGRAPHY IN THE ASSESSMENT OF ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION

Objectives To determine whether the measurement of penile blood flow b y colour Doppler imaging (CDI) and the subjective impressions generate d from CDI correlate with the results of measuring isotope penile bloo d now (IPBF), and thus determine if CDI is a useful screening investig ation for vasculogenic impotence. Patients and methods The study compr ised 37 men with impotence of > 6 months duration. All patients underw ent CDI of the penis; the maximum systolic (v(max) and minimum diastol ic velocity (v(min)) were recorded, Video recordings of the CDI were r eviewed subsequently with no knowledge of the erectile response, Twent y-seven patients then underwent measurement of IPBF. Results There was no relationship between the results obtained from IPBF and those: fro m CDI, nor was there a significant difference between the v(max) of pa tients identified as having arteriogenic impotence on IPBF and that of normal men or those with venous leakage on IPBF, There was no relatio nship between the subjective impressions from CDI and the results from IPBF, or with erectile response. Conclusions There was no correlation between the results obtained on IPBF and those obtained from CDI; the latter is not useful in differentiating between venogenic and arterio genic impotence in men who have failed to have a full response to papa verine.