IMPOTENCY: BLOOD FLOW

The arteries in the penis are quite tiny, and zeroing in on them to take the pressure can be difficult. If the wrong arteries get measured, the results will be inaccurate. Generally speaking, if you get a low reading, you can probably figure the test was done correctly, Sometimes, though, you may get a false normal reading, If blood-flow problems are suspected, you then may need a more sophisticated measurement, called the duplex Doppler test.

Using the radar-like duplex Doppler, doctors can actually measure the increase in blood flow that a man is able to generate to get an erection. This sophisticated and nearly painless test can let the doctor actually see the arteries in the penis, and figure out how well they’re doing their job.

For years, doctors have used the duplex Doppler to look at other parts of the body. Tom F. Lue, M.D., and colleagues at the University of California Medical School in San Francisco, developed a new way to use it. We can now measure the increase in blood flow to the penis and the change in diameter of the blood vessels during an erection. This crucial information shows if the arteries are sufficiently healthy to deliver enough blood to the penis to sustain an erection.

Usually, these measurements are taken before and after a penile shot of papaverine which will, of course, usually produce an erection. By checking the change in blood flow between a man’s erect and nonerect state, the doctor knows if the arterial expressways are doing their job.

Sometimes a man with blocked arteries may be advised to have surgery to reroute blood around the defective arteries. If you’re considering this, you’ll need to have an arteriogram which can actually pinpoint the arteries at fault. First, dye is injected into the arteries which supply the penis, and then an X-ray is taken. f

Another artery test, thermography, measures the heat in the penis. The temperature is an indication of the amount of bloopl flow. But thermography has recently fallen out of favor with many urologists, since more accurate measurements of blood flow are now available.

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