Noninvasive penile arterial evaluation in 120 males with erectile dysfunction.

One hundred twenty males referred to a hospital-based Medical Sexology Program for evaluation of erectile dysfunction had, as part of that workup, a noninvasive penile arterial assessment which included determination of (1) blood pressure in each of the six penile arteries, (2) patency of each cavernosal artery, and (3) brachial blood pressure. The systolic pressures in each of the six penile arteries were averaged and divided by the brachial systolic pressure to determine the penile brachial index (PBI). When a PBI of 0.75 or less was correlated with a history of myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass, or cerebral vascular accident, a P value of 0.069 resulted, certainly suggesting that each is a manifestation of arterial disease.