Magnetic stimulation of the cavernous nerve for the treatment of erectile dysfunction in humans

A recent study in dogs has demonstrated that magnetic stimulation (MS) of t he cavernous nerve produced an increase of the intracorporeal pressure and full penile erection, In view of these results, we tested the possible appl ication of this procedure in humans with erectile dysfunction (ED), The stu dy comprised 32 patients with ED (age 38.3 +/- 9.6 y) and 20 healthy volunt eers (age 36.8 +/- 8.8 y), Routine erectile function tests suggested that i mpotence was neurogenic. A magnetic coil was placed over the dorsal aspect of the penis in the vicinity of the symphysis pubis, MS was performed using a stimulation of 40% intensity, 20 Hz frequency, 50 s on and 50 s off for 10 minutes duration. In the healthy volunteers, the coil was placed as afor ementioned but was not activated, The intracorporeal pressure was recorded and penile tumescence and rigidity observed during MS in the patients and w ithout stimulation in the controls. MS led to gradual increase in length an d diameter of the penis until full erection was achieved; the penis became firm, rigid and pulsatile, The intracorporeal pressure increased significan tly (P < 0.0001) at full erection. Mean latency to full erection was 19.3 /- 3.4 s. Upon off-stimulation, penile erection and intracorporeal pressure returned to baseline after a mean of 22.7 +/- 3.2 s. Penile and pressure r esponse to MS was resumed after an off-time of 50 s, The response was repro ducible infinitely if the off-time was observed. The controls showed no pen ile tumescence or rigidity or increase of the intracorporeal pressure. In c onclusion, MS of the cavernous nerve is effective in inducing penile rigidi ty. It is a simple, easy and non-invasive method which has no adverse effec ts. It might prove to be suitable for application in patients with ED.