الفهرس يوجد فقط 14 صفحة متاحة للعرض العام
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المستخلص
Erectile dysfunction (ED) is the consistent inability to achieve and/or maintain an erection sufficient for satisfactory sexual performance. This condition could be due to organic or psychogenic causes. Vascular diseases of the penile arteries, including atherosclerosis, are the most common cause of organic erectile dysfunction (ED), accounting for up to 80% of the organic cases. ED and ischemic heart disease share the same principal risk factors considered to induce vascular endothelial damage, resulting in arterial obstruction and thrombosis. Thus, ED may be considered a symptom of damage of the vascular endothelium and be concomitant or, in certain conditions, even foregoing the existence of ischemic cardiovascular disease. In such conditions, ED would appear as a real marker of coronary atherosclerosis, and therefore, ischemic heart disease.
Recently, a pathophysiologic mechanism is proposed to explain the link between ED and CAD called the artery size hypothesis. Given the systemic nature of atherosclerosis, all major vascular beds should be affected to the same extent. However, symptoms rarely become evident at the same time. This difference in the rate of occurrence of different symptoms is proposed to be caused by the different size of the arteries supplying different vascular beds that allow a larger vessel to better tolerate the same amount of plaque compared with a smaller one.