Author/Editor		Vodušek, DB
Title		Neurophysiological tests in erectile dysfunction
Type		članek
Source		Scand J Sexology
Vol. and No.		Letnik 1, št. 2
Publication year		1998
Volume		str. 81-95
Language		eng
Abstract		In patients with erectile (and, occasionally, ejaculatory) dysfunction and (suspected) neurological disorder, a diagnosis of involvement of neural and muscular structures related to sexual function may be strengthened, refined and documended by neurophysiological tests. Electromyograhp (EMG) may be used to demonstrate activation patterns of striated muscles (within the sexual response, but is mainly used to differentiate normal from denervated (reinnervated) muscle. Different tests involving stimulation and recording (of somatosensory and motor evoked responses, and sacral reflexes) reflect the function of defined parts of the motor and sensory nervous system. Tests have been proposed to assess the lumbosacral sympathetic system (the sympathetic skin responses) and penile smooth muscle (the corpus cavernosum EMG). Even though the demonstration of nerve of muscle pathology by these tests may refine the diagnosis of nervous system involment, the relation ship of any abnormal results on neurophysiological tests too sexual dysfunction per se has proven to be elusive. Furthermore, the more precise neurological diagnosis in patients with neurogenic erectile failure has little influence on therapeutic decisions. The tests remain of research interest, but have little to offer in everyday clinical evaluation of male sexual dysfunction. Scan. J Sexol.1998;1:81-95
Descriptors		IMPOTENCE NEUROLOGIC EXAMINATION NEUROPHYSIOLOGY ELECTROMYOGRAPHY REFLEX EVOKED POTENTIALS, SOMATOSENSORY EVOKED POTENTIALS, MOTOR LUMBOSACRAL PLEXUS