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The following is a summary of “Value of shear wave elastography combined with red blood cell distribution width in evaluating arterial erectile dysfunction,” published in the September 2024 issue of Urology by Wang et al.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the effectiveness of shear wave elastography (SWE) and red blood cell distribution width (RDW) in diagnosing various forms of erectile dysfunction (ED).
They assessed 131 individuals using Nocturnal Penile Tumescence and Rigidity (NPTR) and Color Duplex Doppler Ultrasound (CDDU). Among them, 24 had psychogenic ED, 48 had non-arterial ED (NAED), and 59 had arterial ED (AED). The SWE values of the penile corpus cavernosum (CCP) and cavernous arterial flow velocity were measured before and after intracavernous injection (ICI).
The results showed that among patients with AED and ED, there were statistically significant differences in the abridged 5 -item International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5), red blood cell distribution width-coefficient of variation (RDW-CV), red blood cell distribution width-standard deviation (RDW-SD), and SWE values (all P<0.01). In patients with AED, IIEF-5 scores had a significant negative relationship with RDW-CV, RDW-SD, and SWE values, with SWE values showing the strongest correlation (P<0.001, r = -0.638).
The study concluded that the combination of RDW and SWE values provides a highly effective method for diagnosing arterial ED, with an AUC of 0.870, sensitivity of 74.6%, and specificity of 91.7%.
Source: bmcurol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12894-024-01579-5#Abs1