Influencing Factors for Erectile Dysfunction of Young Adults with No Response to PDE5i.

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common male disorder. Although orally-administered phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5 inhibitors) are now recognized as the primary pharmacological treatment method for ED, 20%-30% of the patients treated with PDE5 inhibitors exhibit no significant effects. This study aims to investigate the influencing factors of ED in young adults with no response to PDE5 inhibitors. ED patients who would take PDE5 inhibitors were included and investigated with a questionnaire. Patients with no response to PDE5 inhibitors (tadalafil and sildenafil) served as study group, and those with response to PDE5 inhibitors as control group. Then Chi square test and logistic regression analysis were applied to find the potential influencing factors. In total, 378 ED patients were included. Ninety-three (24.6%) cases were non-responsive to PDE5 inhibitors, and the remaining 285 (75.4%) responded to PDE5 inhibitors. In multiple logistic regression analysis, we found that history of drinking (OR=3.152; 95%CI 1.672-6.975), spousal noncooperation (OR=2.994; 95%CI 1.589-5.638), number of fixed sex partners (OR=0.358; 95%CI 0.132-0.651), duration of ED (OR=3.356; 95%CI 1.352-8.333), and depression (OR=3.689; 95%CI 1.579-8.979) could be the influencing factors for ED patients' non-response to PDE5 inhibitors. In conclusion, history of drinking, spousal noncooperation, number of fixed sex partner, long duration of ED, and depression could be the influencing factors for ED patients' non-response to PDE5 inhibitors. Patients and doctors should pay attention to these factors.

Time-effect of penile color duplex Doppler ultrasound for diagnosing vascular erectile dysfunction.

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to explore the time-effect of color duplex Doppler ultrasound (CDDU) in the diagnosis of vascular erectile dysfunction (ED). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Using a self-control study, we included patients who underwent penile CDDU and cavernosography in our hospital. We compared the arterial peak systolic velocity (PSV) of CDDU among different intervals for the diagnosis of arterial ED. We included 357 patients who were under consideration for vascular ED. RESULTS: We found significant differences in all the pairwise comparison of PSV in the 1st (0-5 min), 2nd (6-10 min), 3rd (11-15 min), and 4th (16-20 min) 4 intervals after the injection of prostaglandin E1 (p<0.001), except the 11-15 min vs. the 16-20 min interval (p=0.387). Using cavernosography, 294 patients were diagnosed with venous ED. Compared with other intervals, the diagnosis of CDDU 11-15 min after the intracavernous injection of 20 ug prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) had the best consistency with cavernosography (Kappa=0.761; p<0.001). Compared with other intervals, CDDU at 11-15 min had the highest specificity (93.65%), the highest Youden index (0.85), positive likelihood ratio of 14.46, positive predictive value of 98.54%, negative predictive value of 71.08% and a coincidence rate of 92.16%. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the increased utilization of CDDU for the diagnosis of both arterial and venous ED. The diagnosis at 11-15 min after intracavernous injection of PGE1 is accurate and stable, which would help to simplify the process and shorten the time of CDDU.

Erectile Dysfunction and Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Some studies have reported that exposure to depression increases the risk of erectile dysfunction (ED), whereas others have observed no association. Moreover, additional studies have reported that exposure to ED increases the risk of depression. AIM: To identify and quantitatively synthesize all studies evaluating the association between ED and depression and to explore factors that may explain differences in the observed association. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis. We searched Medline, Ovid Embase, and the Cochrane Library through October 2017 for studies that had evaluated the association between ED and depression. Studies were included in accordance with Patient Population or Problem, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, and Setting (PICOS) inclusion criteria. OUTCOMES: The odds ratio (OR) was regarded as the effect size, and the heterogeneity across studies was assessed using the I2 statistic. RESULTS: We identified 49 eligible publications. The pooled OR for studies evaluating depression exposure and risk of ED was 1.39 (95% CI: 1.35-1.42; n = 46 publications with 48 studies). Although we observed large heterogeneity (I2 = 93.6%), subgroup analysis indicated that it may have been as a result of variations in study design, comorbidities, ED assessment, depression assessment, the source of the original effect size, etc. No significant publication bias was observed (P = .315), and the overall effect size did not change by excluding any single study. The pooled OR for studies evaluating ED exposure and risk of depression was 2.92 (95% CI: 2.37-3.60; n = 5 publications with 6 studies). No significant heterogeneity (P < .257, I2 = 23.5%) or publication bias (P = .260) was observed. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Patients reporting ED should be routinely screened for depression, whereas patients presenting with symptoms of depression should be routinely assessed for ED. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS: There are several strengths to this study. First, evaluations of the association between ED and depression are timely and relevant for clinicians, policymakers, and patients. Second, we intentionally conducted 2 meta-analyses on the association, allowing us to include all potentially relevant studies. However, our study also possesses some limitations. First, the OR is a measure of association that only reveals whether an association is present. Thus, this study was unable to determine the direction of causality between ED and depression. Second, the high heterogeneity among studies makes it difficult to generalize the conclusions. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates an association between depression and ED. Policymakers, clinicians and patients should attend to the association between depression and ED. Liu Q, Zhang Y, Wang J, et al. Erectile dysfunction and depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sex Med 2018;15:1073-1082.

Association Between Left Renal Vein Entrapment and Varicocele Recurrence: A Cohort Study in 3042 Patients.

The recurrence rates after varicocelectomy vary from 0.9% to 32.2%, especially for patients with the left renal vein entrapment (LRVE). This study aims to study the association between LRVE and varicocele recurrence, and to find the risk factors of LRVE. With the design of a cohort study, we included 3042 varicocele patients who would undergo modified inguinal microscope-assisted varicocelectomy (MHMV). 858 (28.21%) patients with LRVE were as the study group, and 2184 (71.79%) patients without LRVE were as the control group. Compared with the control group, BMI was lower (p < 0.001) in study group. Totally, 18 patients had recurrence after surgery, so the recurrence rate was 0.59%. Seventeen patients (1.98%) in study group and 1 patients (0.05%) in control group had recurrence, and significant statistical difference was found between the two groups (p < 0.001). The risk ratio of LRVE for varicocele recurrence is 43.27. In conclusion, the recurrence rate of our MHMV is the lowest (0.59%). There is association between LRVE and varicocele recurrence, and varicocele patients with LRVE have higher probability of recurrence rate after varicocelectomy. BMI could be a risk factor of LRVE. Thus, for varicocele patients, especially those with lower BMI, attentions should be payed to LRVE.

Abnormal brain structure as a potential biomarker for venous erectile dysfunction: evidence from multimodal MRI and machine learning.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the cerebral structural changes related to venous erectile dysfunction (VED) and the relationship of these changes to clinical symptoms and disorder duration and distinguish patients with VED from healthy controls using a machine learning classification. METHODS: 45 VED patients and 50 healthy controls were included. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM), tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) and correlation analyses of VED patients and clinical variables were performed. The machine learning classification method was adopted to confirm its effectiveness in distinguishing VED patients from healthy controls. RESULTS: Compared to healthy control subjects, VED patients showed significantly decreased cortical volumes in the left postcentral gyrus and precentral gyrus, while only the right middle temporal gyrus showed a significant increase in cortical volume. Increased axial diffusivity (AD), radial diffusivity (RD) and mean diffusivity (MD) values were observed in widespread brain regions. Certain regions of these alterations related to VED patients showed significant correlations with clinical symptoms and disorder durations. Machine learning analyses discriminated patients from controls with overall accuracy 96.7%, sensitivity 93.3% and specificity 99.0%. CONCLUSIONS: Cortical volume and white matter (WM) microstructural changes were observed in VED patients, and showed significant correlations with clinical symptoms and dysfunction durations. Various DTI-derived indices of some brain regions could be regarded as reliable discriminating features between VED patients and healthy control subjects, as shown by machine learning analyses. KEY POINTS: • Multimodal magnetic resonance imaging helps clinicians to assess patients with VED. • VED patients show cerebral structural alterations related to their clinical symptoms. • Machine learning analyses discriminated VED patients from controls with an excellent performance. • Machine learning classification provided a preliminary demonstration of DTI's clinical use.