Objective: To study the relation between metabolic syndrome (MS), cavernosal morphological vasculopathy, and peripheral vascular alterations (carotid and femoral wall) in patients with erectile dysfunction.
Research design and methods: A total of 207 patients and 50 control subjects were evaluated for cardiovascular risk factors, physical examination, reproductive hormones, ultrasound analysis of cavernosal, carotid and femoral arteries (intima-media thickness), and cavernosal flow measurement (peak systolic velocity).
Results: A total of 28% of patients had MS, and they presented with a high prevalence of cavernosal alterations (70.3%) and systemic vascular impairment (59.3%), whereas patients with cavernosal alterations (44%) showed the higher prevalence of MS (48.9%). The number of MS components was related to the prevalence of penile vasculopathy. However, multivariate analysis showed that MS is not an independent predictor for cavernosal vasculopathy.
Conclusions: Patients with cavernosal vasculopathy have an increased cardiometabolic risk, and screening for MS components might identify individuals with a higher risk for cavernosal and systemic atherosclerosis.