Penile Vascular Impairment in Erectile Dysfunction Patients with Metabolic Syndrome: Penile Doppler Ultrasound Findings

Background: The constellation of truncal obesity, glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia (high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol), and hypertension has been recognized as metabolic syndrome. However, the pathophysiological association between metabolic syndrome and erectile dysfunction (ED) has not yet been clearly determined. This study aimed to evaluate the penile Doppler ultrasound (PDU) findings of ED patients with metabolic syndrome. Patients and Methods: Sixty-one age-matched ED patients with or without metabolic syndrome were included in the study. Patients were investigated by grouping according to risk factors of metabolic syndrome with PDU parameters (5th, 10th and 20th minute peak systolic velocity and end-diastolic velocity). PDU parameters of patients with and without metabolic syndrome were compared. Results: The mean age of the patients were 54.9 +/- 8.3 and 54.9 +/- 7.6 years for the groups of with (n = 27) and without (n = 34) metabolic syndrome, respectively. When the mean peak flow velocities were compared with presence of metabolic syndrome, we observed differences between at the 5th, 10th and 20th minute peak systolic velocities (p = 0.083, p = 0.022 and p = 0.080, respectively). Conclusion: Metabolic syndrome seems to be the potential risk factor for ED, which may exert its effect by decreased arterial inflow due to endothelial dysfunction. Copyright (C) 2009 S. Karger AG, Base