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Abstract
Purpose
Erectile dysfunction (ED) is associated and might be one of the first signs of cardiovascular disease (CVD). We aimed to assess whether men with vasculogenic ED have an increased risk of CVD by evaluating the relationship between erectile function and the intima-media thickness (IMT) of the common carotid arteries.
Materials and Methods
A total of 40 men were divided into 4 groups according to their erectile function as evaluated by the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF)-15 and the presence of vascular risk factors (VRF). The risk free (RF) group (n=10) included men with ED and no evidence of VRF, the low-risk (LR) group (n=10) included the vasculogenic ED subjects who were overweight or dyslipidemic, and high-risk (HR) group (n=10) consisted of ED subjects with hypertension or diabetes. An age-matched healthy group without ED served as the control (n=10). Blood pressure, height, weight, the lipid profile and the IMT of the carotid arteries were evaluated.
Results
The control group and the vasculogenic ED groups showed significant differences in the IIEF scores and IMT (p<0.05). Spearman's test of the entire subjects revealed a significant correlation between the severity of ED and IMT (p<0.01), which was not present in the control group (p=0.523). However, a significant correlation of the severity of ED and IMT was found in the groups with ED (p<0.05). In addition, the evaluated parameters of the control group and the RF group revealed no significant difference except for the IIEF scores.
Figures and Tables
Fig. 1
Distribution of the IMT and IIEF scores among the entire study group. IMT: intima-media thickness, IIEF: International Index of Erectile Function, Spearman's test p=0.001, Spearman's correlation coefficient: -0.567.
Fig. 2
Distribution of the IMT and IIEF scores among the controls. IMT: intima-media thickness, IIEF: International Index of Erectile Function, Spearman's test p=0.523.
Fig. 3
Distribution of IMT and IIEF scores among the erectile dysfunction groups (RF, LR and HR). IMT: intima-media thickness, IIEF: International Index of Erectile Function, Spearman's test p=0.034, Spearman's correlation coefficient: -0.476.
Table 1
Clinical characteristics of the study groups
RF: risk free group, LR: low risk group, HR: high risk group, BMI: body mass index, BP: blood pressure, IIEF: International Index of Erectile Function, HDL: high density lipoprotein, LDL: low density lipoprotein, T-chol: total cholesterol, TG: triglyceride, s-glu: serum glucose, IMT: Intima-media thickness, *p>0.05 between each group, †p<0.05 vs control, RF, and LR, ‡p<0.05 between control vs RF and LR, RF and LR vs HR, §p>0.05 control vs RF, p<0.05 RF vs LR, p<0.05 LR vs HR, ∥p>0.05 control vs RF, p<0.05 RF vs LR, p>0.05 LR vs HR
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