A comparison of two techniques for the detection of the vasculogenic component of impotence.

Eighty-six patients have been evaluated in the vascular laboratory with regard to vasculogenic impotence. Doppler ultrasound and a new method, photoplethysmography, have been used alone and in combination, compared and correlated with the results of psychiatric therapy. Doppler ultrasound and the photoplethysmographic techniques give almost identical results apart from the zero reading on the Doppler recordings which correlates poorly with the results of psychotherapy and photoplethysmographic findings. The photoplethysmographic technique is quicker, more esthetically acceptable and is, therefore, the method of choice for the assessment of the vasculogenic component of impotence.