Metabolic Syndrome Linked to Cavernosal Vasculopathy

Patients with erectile dysfunction, metabolic syndrome have raised risk of cavernosal alterations

WEDNESDAY, July 13 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with erectile dysfunction (ED) who have metabolic syndrome have higher prevalence of cavernosal vasculopathy than those without metabolic syndrome, and the number of metabolic syndrome components is correlated with cavernosal vasculopathy, according to a study published online July 5 in Diabetes Care.

Mirko Schipilliti, M.D., from the University of Padova in Italy, and colleagues investigated the relationship between metabolic syndrome, cavernosal vasculopathy, and peripheral vascular changes, in patients with ED. A total of 207 patients with ED and 50 controls were evaluated for cardiovascular risk factors and reproductive hormones, and underwent physical examination and ultrasound analysis of intima-media thickness of cavernosal, carotid, and femoral arteries, and cavernosal flow measurement.

The investigators found that 28 percent (58/207) of the patients had metabolic syndrome and they had a higher prevalence of cavernosal alterations (70.3 percent) and systemic vascular impairment (53.9 percent) compared to those individuals without metabolic syndrome. Of the 44 percent (92/207) of patients with ED who had cavernosal alterations, there was a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome (48.9 percent), but multivariate analysis did not identify metabolic syndrome as an independent predictor for cavernosal vasculopathy. However, the number of metabolic syndrome components correlated with penile vasculopathy prevalence.

"Seventy point three percent of patients with metabolic syndrome and ED have penile vasculopathy, while the frequency of cavernosal alterations is higher increasing with the number of metabolic syndrome components," the authors write. "Nevertheless, metabolic syndrome does not independently predict penile vasculopathy."

Abstract
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