F. Montorsi et al., MORPHODYNAMIC ASSESSMENT OF PENILE CIRCULATION IN IMPOTENT PATIENTS -THE ROLE OF DUPLEX AND COLOR DOPPLER SONOGRAPHY, Scandinavian journal of urology and nephrology, 27(3), 1993, pp. 399-408
Duplex and color Doppler sonography were used to assess the vascular s
tatus of 240 impotent patients.The tests were performed before and aft
er intracorporal injection of a standard dose of a vasoactive mixture
and measurements were done both at the crura and at the midshaft of th
e penis. Particular care was taken in the evaluation of cavernosal art
eries diameter, wall pulsatility, morphology of spectral waveform, blo
od flow acceleration, systolic and diastolic flow velocity and flow vo
lume. Resistance and pulsatility indexes of the cavernosal arteries we
re also measured. Flow along the deep dorsal vein was quantified when
possible. Cavernosal artery peak systolic flow velocity, flow volume a
nd acceleration were the best indicators of arterial penile circulatio
n. Persistently elevated (> 10 cm/s) diastolic flow in the cavernosal
arteries positively correlated with a diagnosis of venogenic impotence
obtained by dynamic infusion cavernosometry-cavernosography in almost
80% of cases. Duplex and color Doppler sonography permit to thoroughl
y evaluate cavernosal arteries function and seem to have a promising r
ole in the study of the veno-occlusive mechanism of the corpora cavern
osa.