Preliminary Report: Penile Vein Occlusion Therapy: Selection Criteria and Methods Used for the Transcatheter Treatment of Impotence Caused by Venous-sinusoidal Incompetence

Penile vein occlusion therapy is a fluoroscopic guided technique developed for treating venous-sinusoidal incompetence in patients with erectile dysfunction. We report our experience with 22 patients who have been followed for greater than 1 year. Catheterization of the veins draining the penis was technically possible in 20 of 22 patients (91%). Of these 20 patients 5 (25%) were cured and 9 (45%) had significantly improved erectile function. All 5 patients (100%) with venous-sinusoidal incompetence plus normal cavernous arterial flow, no glans or corpus spongiosal shunts, and bilateral complete coil occlusion of the crural and common crural veins were cured. No deterioration of function was noted at 1 and 2 years. Patient selection and bilateral occlusion of the penile veins are essential to achieve successful penile vein occlusion therapy.