Clitoral Blood Flow
 
 Study reports that “Hormone replacement therapy improves blood flow to the  clitoris. A clitoral blood flow evaluation may be proposed as a potential tool to  assess the impact of hormone replacement therapy on the genital tissues and to
 investigate female sexual response disorders in postmenopausal women.”
 
 Effect of Hormone Replacement Therapy on Clitoral Artery Blood
 Flow in Healthy Postmenopausal Women.

 E Alatas, B. Yagci, O. Oztekin, N. Sabir, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,  Pamukkale University Medical Faculty, Denizli, Turkey, J Sex Med. 2008 Jun 10.

 Introduction. Aging and the decline of ovarian hormonal secretion during menopause may
 alter libido, and sexual response and functioning. The effects of hormone replacement
 therapy (HRT) on the genital vascular hemodynamics have been widely studied. However,
 there is a lack of knowledge about the effect of HRT on basal clitoral blood flow. Aim. The
 aims of this study were to measure clitoral artery blood flow and to determine whether HRT
 has a significant effect in clitoral artery blood flow in postmenopausal women. Methods.
 Doppler sonography of clitoral arteries was performed in 25 postmenopausal women aged
 51.3 +/- 4.5 years who had been using a continuous combined HRT (0.625 mg of
 conjugated equine estrogens plus 2.5 mg medroxyprogesterone acetate, in 1 tablet daily) for
 2.0 +/- 1.1 years, and the clitoral artery peak systolic velocity, resistance index (RI), and
 pulsatility index (PI) were measured. Thirty-five postmenopausal women aged 50.0 +/- 4.2
 years who had not used HRT served as a control group. Main Outcome Measures.
 Assessment of clitoral blood flow with color Doppler ultrasonography by measuring the
 peak systolic velocity, RI, and PI. Results. Clitoral artery circulation was easily detectable
 by the color Doppler sonography. The clitoral artery peak systolic velocities were
 significantly higher in postmenopausal women taking HRT compared with the control group
 (11.8 +/-5.2 cm/second vs. 15.0 +/- 5.4 cm/second, P = 0.025).  
 
 Conclusion. Hormone replacement therapy improves blood flow to the clitoris. A
 clitoral blood flow evaluation may be proposed as a potential tool to assess the
 impact of hormone replacement therapy on the genital tissues and to investigate
 female sexual response disorders in postmenopausal women.

 PMID: 18547387 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]