Lack of correlations between penile thermography and pelvic arteriography in 29 cases of erectile impotence.

We studied 29 cases of penile impotence to determine whether thermography could be used to screen for cases of vascular origin and, therefore, candidates for arteriography. Sixteen thermographic parameters were used to compare 3 groups of patients having normal, mildly altered and severely stenotic arteries on arteriography of the aortic bifurcation and selective catheterization of the hypogastric arteries. The averages of these parameters were computed for each of the 3 groups, and 104 comparisons then were made using student's t test. A significant difference was found between 2 groups in only 2 of the comparisons (p less than 0.05) and no threshold for significant differences was found. Penile thermography did not correlate with pelvic arteriography and does not appear useful in the selection of candidates for arteriography.