Erection is basically a spinal reflex that can be initiated by recruitment of penile afferents, but also by visual, olfactory, and imaginary stimuli. The reflex involves both autonomic and somatic efferents and is modulated by supraspinal influences. Several central transmitters involved in the erectile control have been identified. Dopamine, acetylcholine, nitric oxide (NO), and peptides, such...

PURPOSE Penile erection is dependent on commands from the central nervous system. Although basic studies of animals and neuroimaging studies of humans have been conducted to identify key brain regions associated with sexual arousal, to our knowledge no reliable studies of the first excitation phase of sexual arousal leading to penile erection have been reported. MATERIALS AND METHODS We used ...

Nitric oxide (NO) is the principal mediator of penile erection, and PDE-5 inhibitors are the first-line agents used to treat erectile dysfunction (ED). When NO formation or bioavailability is decreased by oxidative stress and PDE-5 inhibitors are no longer effective, a new class of agents called soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) stimulators like BAY 41-8543 will induce erection. sGC stimulators b...

Sexual and reproductive health is important for quality of life and has a significant influence on patient satisfaction. Spinal cord pathology occurs from trauma, deformity, and degenerative disease processes may be leads to damage sexual function and reproductive system. There are two control systems situated in the spinal cord associated with erection; parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous ...

Many types of vacuum constriction devices (VCDs) are used for the treatment of impotence, but the VCDs made in the USA are too large for Japanese males, and air leakage occurs. Therefore, we examined the erectile response of 47 impotent men to a vacuum constriction device that is made in Japan and can be applied suitably for Japanese men, and compared the response to intracavernous injection of...

OBJECTIVE To examine sexual function at least 10 years after traumatic spinal cord injury. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional questionnaire plus retrospective and prospective data from medical files. SUBJECTS A total of 279 individuals with traumatic spinal cord injury. RESULTS For spinal cord injured women: 94% had no problems with impaired vaginal lubrication; 22% had given birth after the in...

Penile erection is understood to be a neurally regulated physiologic event, although the underlying mechanisms have eluded characterization for more than a century. The classical autonomic parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems are involved, but the process of erection does not appear to require cholinergic or adrenergic mechanisms. As the search for the principal mediator of penile er...

We studied the actual general state of sexual dysfunction in 201 male diabetics (age range: 22-76 years) who were commuting outpatients, using the Sapporo Medical University's Sexual Function Questionnaire. The control group consisted of 6,426 healthy male subjects. The principal parameters taken into account by the Questionnaire were the libido and ability to achieve/maintain an erection, with...

lesions well, and subsequent MRI with pharmacologically induced erection more clearly delineated the lesions and their origin. This demonstrates that even for gross soft tissue lesions of the penis, there can be value added when this technique is employed. We agree with the conclusion of your letter, that MRI with pharmacologically induced erection should be considered in the setting of painful...