Abstract
The diagnosis and management of impotence has been fraught with speculation, confusion of terminology, incomplete evaluations, and a lack of objective methods for assessment. Nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT), the regular occurrence of penile erections during sleep, represents a unique opportunity to study penile rigidity under objective conditions. Some normative data derived from 13 years of study of this phenomenon are presented along with a thorough description of the technique of NPT monitoring and resulting tracing. Further refinements of assessment techniques used in our lab are briefly described. The wide availabity of a new portable device, the NPT Monitor, makes the assessment of NPT the essential minimum in all cases of impotence. Procedures and pitfalls in the use of this instrument are delineated.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Simpson SL: Impotence.Br Med J 1:692–697, 1950.
Levins SB: Marital sexual dysfunction; Erectile dysfunction.Ann Intern Med 85:342–350, 1976.
Strauss EB: Impotence from the psychiatric standpoint.Br Med J 1:697–699, 1950.
Johnson J:Disorders of Sexual Potency in the Male. New York, Pergamon Press, 1968.
Karacan I, Ilaria RL: Diagnostic advances in impotence.Encephale (Paris), in press.
Halverson HM: Genital and sphincter behavior of the male infant.J Genet Psychol 56:95–136, 1940.
Ohlmeyer P, Brilmayer H: Periodische vorgange in sclaf. II. Mitteilung.Pfluegers Arch 249:50–55, 1947.
Ohlmeyer P, Brilmayer H, Hullstrung H: Periodische vorgange im schlaf.Pfleugers Arch 248:559–560, 1944.
Aserinsky E: Ocular motility during sleep and its application to the study of rest-activity cycles and dreaming. Chicago, University of Chicago, Department of Physiology, 1953 (doctoral dissertation).
Aserinsky A, Kleitman N: Two types of ocular motility occurring in sleep.J Appl Physiol 8:1–10, 1955.
Oswald I: Sleep and waking. InPhysiology and Psychology. Amsterdam, Elsevier Publishing Co., 1962.
Shapiro A: Physiological characteristics of REM periods and related kinds of sleep. Paper presented at the Association for the Psychophysiological study of sleep. Palo Alto, California, March 1964.
Karacan I: The effect of exciting pre-sleep events on dream reporting and penile erections during sleep. New York, State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, 1965 (doctoral dissertation).
Karacan I, Goodenough DR, Shapiro A, Starker S: Erection cycle during sleep in relation to dream anxiety.Arch Gen Psychiatry 15:183–189, 1966.
Fisher C, Gross J, Zuch J: Cycle of penile erection synchronous with dreaming (REM) sleep.Arch Gen Psychiatry 12:29–45, 1965.
Jovanovic UJ:Sexuelle Reaktionen und Schlafperiodik bei Menschen. Ergebnisse Experimenteller Untersuchungen. Stuttgart, Ferdinand Enke Verlag, 1972.
Kahn E, Fisher C: REM sleep and sexuality in the aged.J Geriatr Psychiatry 2:181–199, 1969.
Kahn E, Fisher C: Some correlates of rapid eye movement sleep in the normal-aged male.J Nerv Ment Dis 148:495–505, 1969.
Karacan I: The developmental aspect and the effect of certain clinical conditions upon penile erection during sleep. Excerpta Medica International Congress Series, No. 150. Proceedings of the IV World Congress of Psychiatry, Madrid, 1966, pp. 2356–2359.
Jovanovic UJ: A new method of phallography (PhG).Confin Neurol 29:299–312, 1967.
Karacan I: A simple and inexpensive transducer for quantitative measurements of penile erection during sleep.Behav Res Meth Instru 1:251–252, 1969.
Hursch CJ, Karacan I, Williams RL: Some characteristics of nocturnal penile tumescence in early middle-aged males.Compr Psychiatry 13:539–548, 1972.
Karakan I, Hursch CJ, Williams RL, Littell RC: Some characteristics of noturnal penile tumescence during puberty.Pediatr Res 6:529–537, 1972.
Karacan I, Hursch CJ, Williams RL, Thornby JI: Some characteristics of nocturnal penile tumescence in young adults.Arch Gen Psychiatry 26:351–356, 1972.
Karacan I, Williams RL, Thornby JI, Salis PJ: Sleep-related penile tumescence as a function of age.Am J Psychiatry 132:932–937, 1975.
Karacan I, Salis PJ, Thornby JI, Williams RL: The ontogeny of nocturnal penile tumescence.Waking and Sleeping 1:27–44, 1976.
Karacan I: Clinical value of nocturnal erection in the prognosis of impotence.Med Aspects Hum Sex 4:27–34, 1970.
Fisher C: Dreaming and sexuality. In RM Loewenstein, LM Newman, M Schur, and AJ Solnit (eds):Psychoanalysis—A General Psychology. New York, International Universities Press, 1966.
Agnew HW Jr, Webb WB, Williams RL: The first night effect: An EEG study of sleep.Psychophysiology 2:263–266, 1966.
Rechtschaffen A, Verdone P: Amount of dreaming: Effect of incentive, adaption to laboratory and individual differences.Percept Mot Skills 19:947–958, 1964.
Jovanovic JU: Der effekt der ersten untersuchungsnacht auf dis erektionen imn schlaf.Psychother Psychosom 17:295–308, 1969.
Karacan I: The role of the sleep laboratory in diagnosis and treatment of impotence. In RL Williams and I Karacan (eds):Sleep Disorders: Diagnosis and Treatment. New York, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. In Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Karacan, I., Ilaria, R.L. Nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT): The phenomenon and its role in the diagnosis of impotence. Sex Disabil 1, 260–271 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01101016
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01101016