Impotence in patients with chronic renal failure on dialysis: its frequency and etiology.

Fourteen patients with chronic renal failure and on a hemodialysis program underwent neurologic, psychiatric, and endocrine studies to determine the frequency and etiology of impotence in uremics. The data suggest that impotence is more frequent in the chronic dialysis group than in the general population. All seven of the impotent men were found to have prolonged nerve conduct on velocity and absent bulbocavernosus reflexes. Several of the impotent men also had clinical depression and low plasma testosterone levels. Neuropathy may be a significant factor in the pathogenesis of impotence in the uremic, but the importance of both psychiatric and endocrine influences must be strongly considered.