"Link Between Atherosclerosis, Erectile Dysfunction Strengthened in Imaging Study" - Erik Swain
An advanced imaging study using fluorine-18 sodium fluoride PET determined that there is a relationship between atherosclerosis and erectile dysfunction, researchers reported at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session. “When we looked at the scans, we saw something striking,” said Jagat Narula, MD, PhD, associate dean for global health and professor of medicine, cardiology and radiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “We saw there was some kind of penile uptake of sodium fluoride. When we looked at the cross section, we found that it was not a product of excretion; on both sides of the urethra, there were areas lighting up that coincide with the bulbar arteries of the penis. There are the areas that fill in with blood to bring on an erection. As long as you retain blood in there with no leak, the erection will be maintained; failure to retain blood there leads to erectile dysfunction.” That led the team to hypothesize that atherosclerosis was present in the areas lit up by sodium fluoride, Dr. Narula said.
— Jagat Narula, MD, PhD, Professor, Medicine, Cardiology, Radiology, Associate Dean, Global Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Chair, Cardiology, Director, Cardiovascular Imaging Program, Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute, Mount Sinai Health System
