STUDIES ON MALE SEXUAL IMPOTENCE (REPORT IX)
DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS OF ORGANIC AND FUNCTIONAL IMPOTENCE BY DETERMINING PENIAL SKIN TEMPERATURE
1977 Volume 68 Issue 2 Pages 136-144
Details
1977 Volume 68 Issue 2 Pages 136-144
For the differential diagnosis of organic and functional impotence, we have used radioisotope penography to determine their rates of increase in penial blood flow at erection. In a further attempt to achieve the aim more conveniently, we recently tried to trace change in penial skin temperature concomitant with erection in 33 subjects, including 22 with impotence, 5 with Klinefelter's syndrome and 6 control cases.
The trace in penial skin temperature—named as penothermocurve—was obtained after a visual sexual stimulation (V. S. S.). By way of comparison, radioisotope penography was applied in 23 of 33 test subjects.
The results showed that, 6 among the 22 impotence cases who had no past ailments predisposed to organic impotence, revealed an average rise of 1.58°C in penial skin temperature after V. S. S., of 13 others with past history of trauma or others who were likely to lead to organic impotence revealed an average 0.77°C in penial skin. Of remaining 3 cases with psychotic impotence, an average temperature rise was 0.73°C. An average temperature rise of 5 Klinefelter's syndrome cases was 1.16°C after V. S. S. The 6 control cases revealed an average temperature rise of 1.28°C.
In the 23 cases with radioisotope penograms, 15 B-type cases had an average rise of 1.23°C, while 6 A-type cases had an average temperature rise of 0.68°C. The other 2 cases without any responses in radioisotope penogram had an average temperature rise of 0.3°C after V. S. S.
It has thus become evident that the cases with increasing penial blood flow with V. S. S. showed proportional increases in penital skin temperatures, indicating a satisfactory consistency between our tracing of penothermocurve and the radioisotope penography test in distinguishing functional from organic impotence. Our penothermocurve method, free of technical difficulties in handling R. I., simple and practicable anywhere, would be worthy of recommendation in objective differential diagnosis between functional and organic impotences.
