Evaluation of Real-time RigiScan Monitoring in Pharmacological Erection

Purpose: The clinical assessment of pharmacologically induced erectile response was compared to the real-time RigiScan* monitoring response.

Materials And Methods: Erection was induced by 521 intracavernous injections of a new alprostadil formulation. The clinical end point was "full rigidity" and the RigiScan criterion was radial rigidity of 70% or more for 10 consecutive minutes or longer.

Results: For 752 prostaglandin E1 injections the sensitivity and specificity of the RigiScan device compared to clinical evaluation were 53.8% (133 of 247 cases) and 92.9% (469 of 505), respectively. For rigidity of 60% or greater the sensitivity increased to 70.8% (175 of 247 cases) and specificity decreased to 85.0% (429 of 505).

Conclusions: The RigiScan device is useful to document objectively a pharmacologically induced erection yet it appears to be more conservative than clinical evaluation.