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Epidemiology of Peyronie's disease

International Journal of Impotence Research volume 14, pages 379–383 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Francois Gigot de la Peyronie, surgeon to Louis XV of France, has become synonymous with the rather enigmatic though not uncommon condition of Peyronie's disease (PD), a localized connective tissue disorder of the penile tunica albuginea. The true prevalence of Peyronie's disease is unknown. Therefore, we decided to perform an evaluation of existing epidemiological data. A prevalence rate of 3.2% was determined in male inhabitants of the greater Cologne area. This is much higher than revealed by the data reported up to now, thus rendering the accepted prevalence rates of 0.3% to 1% untenable. The actual prevalence of Peyronie's disease may be even higher, considering many patients' reluctance to report this embarrassing condition to their physicians. Along these lines, most clinicians note that the number of Peyronie's patients has increased since the advent of oral sildenafil. Comparably high prevalences are known for diabetes and urolithiasis, suggesting a greater frequency of this rare disease than formerly believed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urology, University Medical Center of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

    F Sommer, U Schwarzer, M Braun, T Klotz & U Engelmann

  2. Institute of Medical Statistics, University Medical Center of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

    G Wassmer

  3. Institute of Anatomy, University Medical Center of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

    W Bloch

Authors
  1. F Sommer
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  2. U Schwarzer
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  3. G Wassmer
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  4. W Bloch
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  5. M Braun
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  6. T Klotz
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  7. U Engelmann
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Correspondence to F Sommer.

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Sommer, F., Schwarzer, U., Wassmer, G. et al. Epidemiology of Peyronie's disease. Int J Impot Res 14, 379–383 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijir.3900863

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