Pharmacocavernometry: a modified papaverine test

The papaverine test has become established in the investigation of impotence. Although a full response to papaverine excludes a significant vascular lesion, failure to respond may be due to either arterial deficiency or venous leakage. Pharmacocavernometry, which combines the papaverine test and an artificial erection test, was performed in 126 patients. Intracorporeal pressure was monitored following the intracorporeal injection of 80 mg papaverine; 10 min later, saline was infused to determine the presence of a venous leak. Five different responses were observed. Patients with a Type 1 or 2 response were psychogenic or neurogenic. Patients with a Type 3 response were arteriogenic and patients with a Type 4 or 5 response had significant venous leakage. The modified papaverine test permits more information to be gained concerning the aetiology of the impotence.     

The erectile angle: objective criterion to evaluate the papaverine test in impotence

Intracavernous papaverine injection may be the first diagnostic step in the assessment of the impotent patient. However, the appreciation of its effect must rely on the evaluation of penile rigidity. Since measurement of rigidity requires a sophisticated procedure that may not be available to the majority of practitioners, we attempted to find a simple and objective method to evaluate the results of this common test. We tested 50 patients complaining of impotence with intracavernous injection of 60 mg. papaverine. The length and circumference of the penis were measured before and after papaverine injection. The rigidity was determined by measuring the angle between the penis and the legs with the patient in the standing position. Afterwards, each patient underwent vascular (Doppler ultrasound and cavernometry) and neurological examinations. A total of 27 patients with no vascular abnormalities had an erectile angle of 96 degrees (range 90 to 130 degrees), while 23 patients had some vascular disorders (9 arterial lesions, 8 venous leakage and 6 combined lesions) and an erectile angle of 36 degrees (range 0 to 60 degrees). There was no significant difference between the groups in the increase of length and circumference of the penis after intracavernous injection of papaverine. The papaverine test can distinguish between patients with vascular and psychogenic problems. A negative papaverine test associated with a normal Doppler examination is characteristic of venous leakage. Measurement of the erectile angle after intracavernous injection of papaverine with the patient in the standing position is a simple, objective and reliable method to evaluate patients with vascular impotence.     

Diagnosis of male impotence after intracavernous papaverine test

The diagnosis and treatment of male impotence have been radically modified by the introduction of intracavernous injections of papaverine. Papaverine treatment can solve more than 70% of male impotence cases, so that the real clue to the diagnosis of impotence is to discriminate between patients who can be treated by papaverine alone and patients deserving thorough investigation. The association of papaverine injection plus video sexual stimulation for this purpose was adopted in our last 250 unselected patients and represents a valuable tool. 115 of 250 achieved successful treatment for their impotence according the following percentages: intracavernous papaverine injections at the practice or at home 75.8%; prosthesis, 19.1%; venous surgery, 3.4%, and arterial surgery, 1.7%.     

Aortofemoral or femoropopliteal revascularization? A prospective evaluation of the papaverine test

Proper selection of suprainguinal vs. infrainguinal arterial revascularization in patients with multilevel disease requires hemodynamic assessment. In such patients hemodynamic evaluation of the aortoiliac system cannot be made accurately with either arteriography or current noninvasive techniques. One hundred six lower extremities underwent preoperative triplane arteriography, measurement of Doppler-derived segmental blood pressures, measurement of common femoral intra-arterial pressure, and intra-arterial injection (30 mg) of the vasodilator papaverine hydrochloride prior to arterial bypass. Common femoral intra-arterial pressure was monitored continuously before and after papaverine injection. The resting femoral/brachial pressure index (FBI) and the maximum change in this index (% delta FBI) following papaverine injection were calculated. To be considered improved postoperatively, claudicants required an increase in treadmill walking time of greater than or equal to 50%, whereas patients operated on for limb salvage required an increase in the thigh/brachial pressure index (TBI) of greater than or equal to 0.15 for suprainguinal revascularizations and an increase of TBI to greater than or equal to 0.9 for infrainguinal revascularizations. In the first 41 extremities (phase I), receiver operator characteristic analysis revealed a % delta FBI greater than or equal to 15% to be optimal in the detection of hemodynamically significant aortoiliac disease. In phase II (65 limbs) this discriminant value for % delta FBI was assessed prospectively. In phase I, in which the choice of supra- vs. infrainguinal bypass was determined arteriographically, only 80% of the extremities were improved; in phase II, in which supra- vs. infrainguinal bypass was determined by the papaverine test, 98% of extremities were improved (p less than 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Is intracavernous injection of papaverine a reliable screening test for vascular impotence?

To determine whether intracavernous injection of papaverine can discriminate vascular versus psychogenic impotence 80 mg. papaverine were injected intracorporeally into 27 impotent patients without any hormonal or neurological abnormality. The patients also underwent dynamic cavernosography, the artificial erection test and selective internal iliac arteriography. In addition, 21 of the patients underwent nocturnal penile tumescence monitoring. The response to intracavernous papaverine injection was noted as positive (fully rigid erection), intermediate or negative (soft or absent erection). Among 14 patients with severe arterial lesions and/or severe venous leakage the response was negative in 11 and positive in none. Among the remaining 13 patients (moderate or absent vascular abnormalities) the response was positive in 4 but negative in 4. Of 15 patients with an abnormal nocturnal penile tumescence test the response to intracavernous papaverine injection was negative in 12 and positive in none. However, of 6 patients with a normal nocturnal penile tumescence test the response was positive in only 1. Over-all, the results of the intracavernous papaverine injection test are correlated only fairly with those of the nocturnal penile tumescence test and the vascular investigations. This test could be useful to save some nocturnal penile tumescence tests in cases of suspected vascular impotence. However, the safety of this procedure must be confirmed in larger series. Indeed, 1 of our patients suffered priapism after a second intracavernous papaverine injection performed for a therapeutic purpose.     

罂粟碱作用下扩张器周围纤维包膜超微结构的变化

为了探讨罂粟碱通过带导药系统的双囊扩张器加速组织扩张的机理，作者采用透射电镜观察在罂粟碱作用下纤维包膜中的成肌纤维细胞（ＭＦ）的变化。结果表明：ＭＦ的核膜变得平滑，皱褶减少。胞浆中微丝减少，细胞间的桥粒和缝管连接减少，成肌纤维细胞固定线，（ＭＡＳ）减少。另有部分成肌纤维细胞表现为退行性变的征象，胞浆中的线粒体减少，部分发生肿胀变性，基粒脱落，嵴间隙和周边间隙扩张，腔内有空泡。部分线粒体呈萎缩征，膜增厚皱缩呈波浪状，嵴变短甚至消失，粗面内织网减少，网膜上的多核蛋白体脱落散离，高尔基复合体减少，部分萎缩。说明罂粟碱是通过降低细胞活性和破坏部分细胞的结构抑制扩张器周围纤维包膜的挛缩。     

扩张器囊壁对罂粟碱渗透性的体外实验研究

目的研究抗收缩剂罂粟碱能否通过扩张器的囊壁有效渗出对周围组织发挥药理作用。方法通过在体外测定注入到扩张器内的罂粟碱的渗出率实验。结果在常量扩张（１００％）和超量扩张（２００％）状态下平均每天的渗出量分别为２．１％和２．９％。结论扩张器的硅胶囊壁不能使罂粟碱有效渗出。     

The prediction of papaverine induced priapism by color Doppler sonography

PURPOSE: We identified color Doppler sonography findings that are useful for predicting priapism in patients after the intracavernous injection of diagnostic papaverine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated 72 men with erectile dysfunction by color Doppler sonography after the diagnostic injection of papaverine. Cavernous artery waveforms were recorded, and peak systolic and diastolic velocity of the recorded waveforms was measured. In cases of priapism color Doppler sonography findings were retrospectively evaluated to identify any finding that would predict priapism. RESULTS: Priapism was observed in 8 of the 72 patients (11.1%). In 6 of 8 priapism cases there was no blood flow in the cavernous artery during or after adequate erection, including after minutes 5, 10 and 20 in 3, 1 and 2, respectively. This absence of encoding was not relieved even after all stimuli were removed. In 2 patients who later presented with complaints of priapism the Doppler study was completed normally and all parameters were acquired without any cessation of blood flow in the cavernous artery. The persistent disappearance of color and pulse encoding in the cavernous artery predicted priapism with 75% sensitivity, 100% specificity, a positive and negative predictive value of 100% and 96.9%, respectively, and 97% accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: The persistence of absent blood flow in the cavernous artery even after the elimination of all stimuli during penile color Doppler ultrasound is a reliable predictor of priapism. The finding is accurate enough to initiate treatment for priapism to avoid further delay.     

Combined papaverine test and radionuclide penile blood flow in impotence: method and preliminary results.

The investigation of vascular impotence requires a simple, reliable and non-invasive method of estimating penile arterial supply. A method for measuring flow to the dependent portion of the penis has been developed using technetium-labelled red blood cells (99mTc-RBC). Its use, in conjunction with the intracavernous injection of papaverine, was investigated in 32 patients with various causes of impotence. Intracavernous papaverine was administered and a pneumatic cuff was inflated around the base of the penis both to isolate the penile circulation and to prevent dispersion of papaverine. The remaining blood pool was labelled with 99mTc-RBC. A gamma camera was used to produce a time-activity curve for the penis following release of the cuff. Penile blood flow was calculated from the initial gradient of the time-activity curve. Papaverine-stimulated penile blood flow was significantly greater in patients without evidence of arterial insufficiency. None of the subjects with arterial disease achieved flows greater than 20 ml/min/100 ml, while flow in patients without arterial disease exceeded this value. Flow estimation without the use of papaverine was not able reliably to discriminate between the 2 groups. There was no difference in papaverine-stimulated blood flow between impotent subjects with veno-sinusoidal leakage, in the absence of arterial disease, and a control group who achieved full erection with papaverine. It was therefore possible, by assessing the response to papaverine and measuring arterial blood flow, to distinguish between arterial insufficiency, veno-sinusoidal leakage and non-vascular causes of impotence. The method requires little skill and can be modified for use with inexpensive equipment.     

Intracavernous papaverine in the management of psychogenic impotence

Intracavernous papaverine has found an important place in the management of male erectile failure. The effect of this mode of therapy was studied in 48 patients with psychogenic impotence. The average follow-up for this group of patients ranged from 7 months to 37 months (mean 16.3 months). All the patients in this group were advised sex therapy as an initial mode of therapy. On refusal to undergo sex therapy, they were offered an option of intracavernous papaverine injection. Papaverine appears to break the performance anxiety erectile failure cycle and was noted to have good results. Overall 57.9% patients expressed complete satisfaction with this mode of therapy. One patient (2.1%) developed priapism, which was adequately treated with intracavernous epinephrine. Use of low dosage of papaverine is suggested as an additional mode of therapy in the management of psychogenic impotence.     

The effect of papaverine on arterial and venous hemodynamics of erection

The aim of this study was to establish how much of the erectogenic effect of papaverine is due to arterial dilatation and how much to venous obstruction during artificial erection. Three consecutive cavernosographies were done on each of 10 psychogenic impotent patients: a baseline run without papaverine; a run with papaverine (60 mg. intracavernously) after occlusion of arterial supply to the corpora cavernosa with balloon catheters inflated at the origin of the hypogastric arteries; and a third run after restoring arterial blood supply to the corpora. The measured flow rates indicated that during cavernosography in papaverine-induced erection, the major effect of papaverine is to increase the resistance to venous outflow from the corpora cavernosa.     

The response to papaverine in coronary artery bypass graft flows

During coronary artery bypass surgery graft flows were measured. The measurements were made after cardiopulmonary bypass had been discontinued. The recordings were made over a ten year period and a total of 1,151 grafts in 720 patients are included. Except where the flow down a graft was large, 20 mg of Papaverine were injected into the graft and this usually resulted in the flow increasing by at least 100%. A satisfactory response was not achieved in 32 of the 538 grafts in which Papaverine was injected but subsequent probing of the distal anastomosis achieved a markedly improved flow in 80%.     

Induction of an erection using papaverine

In 61 patients erectile impotency was treated with papaverine injections into penile spongy body: initially 20-30 mg/day, then followed several days of intermittence, and then the dosages were built up with regard to the optimum time of erection for each person. Dosages higher than 80-100 mg were not advisable because of the evidence of prolonged erections. Recorded in 6 patients (7 times) prolonged erections lasted from 5 to 16 hrs (in 5 cases it was stopped by intracavernous injection of dopamine but in 2 patients cavernotomy was performed). A total of 300 sessions of papaverine intracavernous injections were made in 61 patients before the copulation (out of them 16 patients injected the drug themselves). During the treatment the patients were warned against prolonged erections: when it lasted for more than 4 hrs emergency clinical treatment be required for priapism prevention. It was proved that an adequate dosage of papaverine autoinjections into a spongy body was a simple, safe and effective method to cure erectile impotency, especially in patients with nonadvanced psychoneurological or vasculogenic disorders.     

The value of using a facilitating dose of papaverine chlorhydrate during cavernometry

In order to establish diagnostic cavernometric criteria, we selected 63 patients who did not respond positively to visual sexual stimulation. They were subjected to the following protocol including Rigiscan monitoring of 2 or 3 nights erections for, hormonal assays, penile doppler, cavernometry and cavernography. Intracorporeal injection of 8 mg of papaverine was performed during the hemodynamic tests. Our results showed that the erection maintenance blood flow and the maintenance index are statistically reliable diagnostic criteria for venous leaks (the maintenance index is more accurate). The use of 8 mg of papaverine reduces the incidence of false positive results without significant hemodynamic changes. In order to exclude psychogenic false positive patients, it is recommended to select the candidates for cavernometry after papaverine tests and nocturnal penile tumescence and rigidity monitoring.     

Analyses of factors contributing to the erectile dysfunction with aging by nocturnal penile tumescence, penile blood pressure index and papaverine test

To evaluate the factors contributing to the decline in erectile function with age, we performed measurement of nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT) and penile vascular examinations in 407 men. The following results were obtained. 1) The penile circumferential increment during NPT measured by an erectometer was gradually decreased with age, especially markedly after 60 years of age. The percentage of subjects in whom the NPT was less than 10 mm increased with age: 2.7% in the 5th decade, 7.1% in the 6th decade, 16.7% in the 7th decade and 29.1% in the 8th decade. These findings indicate that the incidence of organic erectile dysfunction increased with age. 2) To evaluate the penile vascular status, measurement of penile blood pressure index (PBPI) and papaverine test were performed. The mean PBPI values were significantly decreased in the subjects over 70 years of age. The percentage of subjects having good response to papaverine injection obviously decreased with age: 66.7% between 50 to 59 years, 48.6% between 60 to 69 years, and 15.8% of over 70 years. All subjects in whom the NPT was less than 10 mm showed either a low PBPI level of less than 0.6 or an incomplete response to papaverine injection. These results suggest that penile vascular impairment plays a major role in the age-associated decline in erectile function. 3) We investigated the relationship between cigarette smoking and penile vascular impairment. Smokers showed not only lower PBPI values but higher incidence of the incomplete response to papaverine injection than nonsmokers. Therefore, it is considered that cigarette smoking is a significant risk factor in the erectile dysfunction that occurred in the aged.     

Diagnostic intracorporeal papaverine and erectile dysfunction

Intracorporeal papaverine has been used as an out-patient procedure to assess the erectile dysfunction of 129 men. The technique is a valuable diagnostic aid and has few side effects. Prolonged tumescence occurred in four patients, two of whom required treatment with intracorporeal metaraminol.     

Detrimental effects of papaverine on the human internal thoracic artery

OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine the effects of papaverine on human and canine internal thoracic artery function and structure. METHODS: Vascular function was assessed with wire myography, and apoptosis was examined with confocal microscopy in arteries stained with ApopTag. RESULTS: Acetylcholine-induced endothelium-dependent relaxation in phenylephrine-precontracted arteries was significantly impaired by papaverine treatment in both human and canine internal thoracic arteries (maximal relaxation: 68.35% +/- 7.13% vs 47.5% +/- 9.32% in human arteries and 74.8% +/- 5.5% vs 34.3% +/- 8.5% in canine arteries) but not by incubation with acidified saline solution (pH 3.9, which is equivalent to the pH of 10(-2) mol/L papaverine solution) in canine internal thoracic arteries. Contraction of human internal thoracic arteries to phenylephrine or to U46619 was not significantly affected by papaverine treatment and neither was the contraction of canine internal thoracic arteries to phenylephrine. Total apoptotic endothelial and smooth muscle cells were significantly greater in papaverine-treated human and canine internal thoracic arteries. CONCLUSIONS: Papaverine impairs endothelial function and triggers apoptosis of endothelial and smooth muscle cells of human and canine internal thoracic arteries. The long-term consequence of this impairment on vascular function is not known. Until this question is answered, it will be prudent to use other vasodilators that are less damaging to the internal thoracic artery for cardiac surgery.