Sildenafil and erection quality: functional and emotional correlates in men with erectile dysfunctions and their partners
I. Moncada Iribarren, F. Cabello Santamaría

SUMMARY

Objective: To review the physiological determinants of the rigidity of the penis in erection and its functional and emotional correlates on the patient and his partner.

Development: At a physiological level the main neurotransmitter responsible for erections is Nitric Oxide (NO). Its effects are due to cyclical GMP (CMPc), whose activity is regulated by the PDE5. The inhibition of the PDE5 with Viagra increases the erection quality via the prolongation of bioactivity of NO. The tools for rigidity evaluation, both objectively (RigiScan) and subjectively (QEQ, SEP and Degrees of Erection Scale), and the emotional impact of the erection quality on the patient and his partners were reviewed.

Conclusion: The rigidity of the erection has fundamental connotations at functional level (quality of the erection) and emotional (confidence, self-esteem, sexual satisfaction and general satisfaction), as much as for the male and his partner.

KEY WORDS

Erection quality, Viagra, sexual satisfaction.