Peyronie's disease

This paper reviews the current status of information on Peyronie's disease, and discusses the immunological, inflammatory, traumatic and hereditary as pects of the disease. The diagnostic procedure classically consists of hist ory taking, physical examination and ultrasound. Additional procedures are autophotography according to the technique suggested by Kelami, intracavern ous injection test with colour doppler sonography, dynamic cavernosometry a nd cavernosography, X-ray using a mammography technique, computer tomograph y and magnetic resonance tomography. For therapy them are several conservat ive options available, such as oral and intralesional drug therapy, iontoph oresis and, as a new minimally invasive method, the extracorporal shock-wav e therapy. The different surgical techniques follow an algorithm depending on the stage of disease. Among the standard procedures are penile straighte ning techniques like the Essed-Schroeder and Nesbit procedure, excision, th inning or inicision of the plaque with or without grafts of various materia ls and, finally, the insertion of penile implants under certain circumstanc es in combination with plaque surgery.