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Genital duplex Doppler ultrasonography before and after sexual stimulation in women with sexual dysfunction: gray scale, volumetric, and hemodynamic findings.

Garcia S, Talakoub L, Maitland S, Dennis A, Goldstein I, Munarriz R

Institute of Sexual Medicine, Department of Urology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA.

OBJECTIVE: To report gray scale, volumetric, and duplex ultrasound data before and after sexual stimulation in a large population of women with sexual dysfunction. DESIGN: Retrospective review of women with sexual dysfunction. SETTING: An academic center. PATIENT(S): Pre- and postmenopausal women with sexual dysfunction. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): This is an Institutional Review Board-approved retrospective study of 142 women who underwent duplex Doppler ultrasound (DDU) arousal testing for sexual dysfunction. RESULT(S): This study revealed that DDU was able to record morphologic, volumetric (clitoral and corpora spongiosa diameters), and hemodynamic (peak systolic and end-diastolic) changes in women with sexual dysfunction before and after sexual stimulation. Resistive index measurements, which are indicative of veno-occlusive function, did not significantly change before and after arousal in both the clitoris and corpora spongiosa. We also found a correlation between genital diameter and genital end-diastolic velocity value. Gray scale scanning revealed tunical thickening or plaque in several patients who sustained blunt perineal trauma. CONCLUSION(S): The role of DDU in the management of women with sexual dysfunction remains to be determined; however, end-diastolic velocity values suggest that this parameter has an important physiologic implication as a direct determinant of genital engorgement.

Published 11 April 2005 in Fertil Steril, 83(4): 995-9.
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