[New contributions of the usefulness of electromyography of cavernous bodies in the diagnosis of erectile dysfunction].

Objectives: To test the concordance between clinical and neurophysiologic data of the various types of erectile dysfunction, and to describe a diagnostic algorithm based on corpus cavernosum electromyography (cc-EMG).

Methods: 32 patients with a mean age of 50.6 years (typical deviation 13.2 years) referred with the diagnosis of erectile dysfunction underwent medical history, neuroandrologic physical exam, neurophysiologic studies (bulbocavernous muscle electromyography, S2-S4 latency period, threshold and latency of pudendal nerve somatosensory potentials, as well as genital sympathetic evoked potentials-SSR-), and corpus cavernosum electromyography(cc-EMG) both in basal conditions and after administration of 20 micrograms of E-1 prostaglandin (PGE-1).

Results: 1--A significative relationship was shown between clinical data of arterial or corpus cavernosum intrinsic origin erectile dysfunction and patients with vascular or structural lesion on cc-EMG data. 2--A significative relationship was shown between patients without previous pathologic history and patients with normal or anxiety cc-EMG. 3--No significative relationship was shown between patients with neurologic lesion and patients with autonomic lesion on cc-EMG. 4--No significative relationship was found between patients with peripheric neurologic lesion and patients with inferior autonomic lesion on cc-EMG. 5--A significative relationship was shown between patients with suprasacral neurologic lesion and patients with superior autonomical lesion on cc-EMG.

Conclusions: Isolated application of pudendal nerve neurophysiologic techniques for the diagnosis of erectile dysfunction is not enough. Autonomic innervation studies should be included, with a cc-EMG dichotomic qualitative interpretation.