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Impotence and Erectile Problems in Sleep Medicine

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Sleep Medicine

Abstract

Erection cycles during sleep are often viewed as one of the more unusual physiological events to occur during sleep, yet penile erections are a robust peripheral manifestation of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in all healthy males. These REM-related erections were previously termed “nocturnal penile tumescence” (NPT), but are now more commonly referred to as “sleep-related erections” (SRE) to reflect the specific association with sleep. The history of SRE testing from its discovery to its clinical role in evaluating male erectile dysfunction is reviewed in this chapter. SRE testing was commonly performed in many sleep laboratories until a decade ago. Although urologists continue to utilize SRE testing using home screening devices, few sleep medicine specialists employ this technique today even though a clear role for formal in-laboratory SRE monitoring remains. Finally, the discovery of an animal model to elucidate some of the basic neural mechanisms of SREs is presented.

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  1. Ohio Sleep Medicine Institute, 4975 Bradenton Ave., 43017, Dublin, OH, USA

    Markus H. Schmidt MD PhD

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  1. Markus H. Schmidt MD PhD
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Correspondence to Markus H. Schmidt MD PhD .

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  1. Department of Neurology, New Jersey Neuroscience Institute JFK Medical Center, Edison, New Jersey, USA

    Sudhansu Chokroverty

  2. Department of Neurology, Gui de Chauliac Hospital, Montpellier, France

    Michel Billiard

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Schmidt, M. (2015). Impotence and Erectile Problems in Sleep Medicine. In: Chokroverty, S., Billiard, M. (eds) Sleep Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2089-1_52

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2089-1_52

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