Evaluation of endotelial functions with photoplethymography technique in patients with erectile dysfunction

Objective: Erectile dysfunction is a major health problem that affects many men and their partners around the world. Although the etiology of erectile dysfunction can be found in a very different range, in most patients the cause is vascular insufficiency. The aim of this thesis study is to measure endothelial functions with photoplethysmography flow mediated dilatation (PPG-FMD) method in patients with erectile dysfunction and a healthy control group and to compare the results. Method: In the study, volunteers newly diagnosed with erectile dysfunction were included in the patient group, and demographically similar volunteers were to the control group (without a diagnosis of ED). Questioning the inclusion/exclusion criteria with the diagnosis of ED was made by a urology physician. Then, endothelial function measurement with the PPG-FMD method was applied to all participants. Results were recorded electronically for statistical analysis. Results: The patient group included 24 men newly diagnosed with ED (mean age 61.3 ± 8.4), and the control group included 24 male participants with similar demographic characteristics (mean age 57.7 ± 14.0) without ED diagnosis. There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of demographic measurements, anthropometric measurements, vital signs, and categorical measurements. Endothelial function measurement results were calculated as 62.2 ± 36.0% in the patient group and 95.6 ± 26.4% in the control group (p = 0.001). Conclusion: In the study conducted, it was observed that the endothelial function values in ED patients were significantly lower than the control group. The PPG-FMD method was used to measure endothelial function in ED patients for the first time in the literature. It is thought that it will provide useful information to clinicians after the PPG-FMD protocol is standardized with larger and more comprehensive studies.