CAVERNO-OCCLUSIVE AND AUTONOMIC DYSFUNCTION - A NEW CONCEPT IN YOUNG-PATIENTS

We attempted to identify the etiology of erectile dysfunction in 50 ma le patients with a mean age of 31.4 (25-42) years.;The physical and ne urological examinations, history, biochemistry and serum testosterone and prolactin levels were within normal limits, Pharmacopenile duplex ullrasonography, corpus cavernosum electromyography (CC-EMG) and caver nosometry were performed. Smooth muscle tone and the relaxation respon se after intracavernous papaverine and sodium nitroprusside injections were evaluated by CC-EMG, Autonomic dysfunction has been defined as i ncreased electrical activities after visual sexual stimulation and low ered amplitudes despite normal smooth muscle content. Our definition i s similar to this: paradoxically increased electrical activities after intracavernous injection, Caverno-occlusive dysfunction (COD) and acc ompanying pathologies were found in 38 patients (76%) with pure COD in 26 (52%), COD and arterial pathology in 2 (4%) and COD + autonomic dy sfunction in 10 patients (20%). Amplitudes of cavernous electrical act ivity were low in 32 of 38 patients with GOD. These high COD and auton omic dysfunction rates led us to examine these pathologies on molecula r and electrophysiological bases.