Volume 4, Supplement 3SupplementPharmacologic Treatment of Erectile DysfunctionWilliam SteersErectile dysfunctionSmooth musclePenisCorpus cavernosum
Volume 16, Number 4Review ArticlesErectile Dysfunction and Essential Hypertension: The Same Aging-related Disorder?Screening UpdateRaul I ClavijoMartin MinerJacob RajfeAn erection is a mechanical event dependent primarily on corporeal vascular dynamics wherein arterial inflow and storage of blood within the corpora is greater than the egress of blood from the corpora. The most common cause of erectile dysfunction (ED) is the inability of the corporal tissue to store the blood within the corporal sinusoids once inflow into the corpora begins. This failure to store is primarily due to a corporal smooth muscle dysfunction and, in most men, is most likely an aging-related occurrence. Because the corporal smooth muscle is embryologically and physiologically indistinguishable from the smooth muscle within our arterial system, the authors hypothesize that the aging-related dysfunction that occurs within the penis also occurs within the arterial system, and that this smooth muscle dysfunction within the arterial media is most likely the cause of what is called essential hypertension. This panvascular smooth muscle myopathy could explain why hypertension is the most common comorbidity associated with ED and appears to indicate that both ED and essential hypertension are the same disorder, albeit in two different organ systems. [Rev Urol. 2014;16(4):167-171 doi: 10.3909/riu0631] © 2014 MedReviews®, LLCHypertensionErectionEndotheliumSmooth muscle