Electrical activity of corpus cavernosum in vasculogenic and non-vasculogenic erectile dysfunction

Abstract

We aimed to compare the electrical activity of corpus cavernosum before and after intracavernous papaverine injection and to determine the blood lipid profile in vascular and non-vascular erectile dysfunction, and also to assess whether vascular pathology and abnormal blood lipid levels impair cavernosal smooth-muscle relaxation. We determined total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels in peripheral and cavernosal blood in 39 patients with erectile dysfunction. Electromyography of the corpus cavernosum was performed before and after an intracavernous injection with 60 mg of papaverine in all patients. Thirty-nine impotent patients have been divided into two groups: vasculogenic erectile dysfunction (VED) and non-vasculogenic erectile dysfunction (NVED), according to colour Doppler ultrasonic flowmetry, dynamic infusion cavernosometry and the pressure difference between the brachial arterial systolic pressure and cavernosal arterial systolic pressure measurements. Biochemical values and amplitude changes were compared in both groups. The TC level was higher in both peripheral and cavernosal samples of the VED group than in the NVED group (p = 0.000), with no differences between peripheral and cavernosal blood levels within the same groups (p > 0.05). There were no significant changes in TG and HDL levels in any of the groups (p > 0.05). The mean amplitude differences before and after papaverine injection (delta A) were found to be 2.05 +/- 0.78 microV in the VED group and 4.68 +/- 2.53 microV in the NVED group, showing that the relaxation response to papaverine was more significant in the NVED than in the VED group (p = 0.003). The moderate decreases in the amplitude of electrical activity of corpus cavernosum and the higher TC levels found in the VED group can be accepted as the parameters of impairment in the relaxation of corpus cavernosum, showing the role of hypercholesterolaemia and vascular pathologies in erectile dysfunction.