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The relationship between Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) and ischemic priapism: a case-control study

International Journal of Impotence Research volume 37, pages 372–376 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

This multicentre retrospective study was conducted in 3 university hospitals in Egypt between April 2020 and June 2022. The aim was to assess the relation between Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) and ischemic priapism. Forty-three ischemic priapism patients were diagnosed and divided into two groups (30 in group I with ischemic priapism only, and 13 in group II with both ischemic priapism and COVID-19). Further sub-classification of COVID-19 patients according to the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection severity was done. Cavernosal aspiration was successful in 25 patients (83.3%) in group I and 12 (92.3%) in group II. Long term follow-up proved moderate to severe erectile dysfunction in 6 patients (20.0%) and 1 (7.7%) in group I and II, respectively. All those with severe erectile dysfunction were managed by distal shunt and prepared for penile prosthesis placement. The median duration of ischemic priapism was significantly longer in patients with severe erectile dysfunction [19 vs. 7 h, P = 0.01]. There was no statistically significant difference between both groups regarding patients’ age (p = 0.8), required priapism management (p = 0.4), priapism recurrence (p = 0.1), and erectile dysfunction severity (p = 0.5). Ischemic priapism in COVID-19 patients can occur not only in severe, but also in mild or even asymptomatic cases. COVID-19 did not influence the ischemic priapism treatment protocol and post-treatment erectile function. COVID-19 and ischemic priapism seem to have a coincidence relation rather than a causal.

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All datasets generated or analyzed during this study are included in the manuscript. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at Jouf University for funding this work through research grant number (DSR-2021-01-03165). Also, we are thankful for all the study participants for agreeing to be enrolled.

Funding

The study was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Jouf University; grant number (DSR-2021-01-03165).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Urology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt

    Khaled Almekaty & Maged Ragab

  2. Microbiology and Immunology Unit, Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Jouf University, Sakaka, 72388, Saudi Arabia

    Ahmed E. Taha

  3. Urology Department, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

    Ibrahim M. Ibrahim

  4. Urology Department, 6th of October University, 6th of October, Egypt

    Ayman Rashed

  5. Emergency and Traumatology Department, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt

    Ahmed Eid

  6. Dermatology and Andrology Department, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt

    Amr Moubasher

  7. Urology Department, St George’s Hospital, London, UK

    Amr Moubasher

  8. Mansoura Urology and nephrology center, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt

    Mohamed H. Zahran

Authors
  1. Khaled Almekaty
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  2. Ahmed E. Taha
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  4. Ibrahim M. Ibrahim
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  8. Mohamed H. Zahran
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Contributions

Conceptualization: K.A., M.H.Z.; Funding acquisition: A.E.T.; Data curation: All authors; Formal analysis: K.A., M.H.Z.; Supervision: K.A., M.H.Z.; Writing – original draft: All authors; Writing – review & editing: All authors. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ahmed E. Taha.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics approval

The study protocol was approved by the Research Ethics Committee at October 6 University (Approval number: PRC-Me-2212052). Informed consent was confirmed by the Research Ethics Committee. Data collection followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki. All patients signed an informed consent agreeing to deliver their own anonymous information for the study and future studies.

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Almekaty, K., Taha, A.E., Ragab, M. et al. The relationship between Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) and ischemic priapism: a case-control study. Int J Impot Res 37, 372–376 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-024-00929-z

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