Bancroft et al measured changes in penile diameter and arterial pulse in impotent males during erotic stimulation. They recognized different patterns which correlated with the cause of the impotence. The authors are from the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh, the University of Melbourne and the Seattle Public Health Hospital.
Parameters during erotic stimulation:
(1) erection (increase in penile diameter)
(2) increase in penile arterial pulse amplitude
(3) parallel between increase in arterial pulse with erection
Erection
Increase in Pulse Amplitude
Increase in Pulse During Plateau Phase
Type
yes
yes
yes
I
yes
yes
no ("dissociated")
II
yes
no
NA
III
no
yes
NA
IV
where:
• The table suggests the existence of a fifth type, with no increase in diameter and no increase in arterial pulse.
• In Type II the increase in arterial pressure occurs during the increase in penile diameter or during its decline but not during the plateau (middle) phase of the erection.
Type
Association
I
II
psychogenic impotence
III
IV
diabetes, especially with autonomic neuropathy
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