Role of spongiosography in study of penile veins.

Spongiosography can help visualize the same venous system seen in cavernosography during erection with papaverine. In 4 cases where the deep dorsal vein was ligated, spongiosography was used to demonstrate why improvement was not sustained. These ligations were not successful because the deep dorsal vein can rechannel through small veins at the site of excision. Furthermore, the external pudendal vein may divert the blood into the femoral vein after dorsal vein ligation. The distribution of the circumflex veins at the level of the spongiosal bodies represents a formidable anastomotic network of veins that bypass all attempts to restrict deep dorsal vein outflow.