Did coronavirus cause a man to have a 4-hour erection? Doctors studied it to find out
Doctors in France believe the novel coronavirus could be to blame for a man’s erection that lasted more than four hours, a new case study says.
Blood clots found within the 62-year-old’s penis caused a painful case of priapism — the medical term for a prolonged erection — and is thought to have been triggered by the disease, according to the report published in June in The American Journal of Emergency Medicine.
The case appears to be the first that links penile erections to COVID-19, the team of doctors said.
“The clinical and laboratory presentation in our patient strongly suggests priapism related to SARS-CoV-2 infection,” the doctors said in the study. “This medical emergency should be recognized by healthcare professionals and treated promptly to prevent immediate and chronic functional complications.”
A significant number of coronavirus patients admitted to intensive care units form dangerous clots in their blood, several reports have shown. They are causing patients to have heart attacks, strokes, rashes and swollen fingers and toes, and can be found in the lungs, liver, kidneys and bowels, according to WebMD.
Some scientists speculate clotting is the result of an exhausted immune system that ends up turning against itself, causing a condition called “disseminated intravascular coagulation, where patients both bleed uncontrollably and clot too much at the same time,” the outlet said.
Others theorize the virus could be causing the clotting directly, but more research is needed to understand the phenomenon, experts say.
But when the patient visited a doctor feeling feverish and weak with a dry cough and diarrhea, there were no signs of a problematic erection, the study said. Clinicians gave the man antibiotics for what they thought was a bacterial infection.
Two days later, he was having breathing troubles and went to the hospital where he was “promptly intubated and mechanically ventilated,” the researchers said.
The patient’s blood pressure spiraled out of control and chest scans showed abnormalities in his lungs, but still no sign of an erection. It wasn’t until the patient was admitted into the ICU with fluid in his lungs that a “physical examination revealed previously unidentified priapism,” the study said.
Doctors drew blood from the man’s penis and found “dark blood clots and high carbon dioxide and low oxygen contents,” which means the clots were blocking blood from flowing out of the penis, Bruce Lee, a professor of health policy and management at the City University of New York, wrote in Forbes.
“When blood stays in the same place and can’t return to the lungs, it gets depleted of oxygen and loaded more and more with carbon dioxide,” Lee wrote.
Doctors injected medicine into the man’s penis which helped his condition, the study said.
“Although the arguments supporting a causal link between COVID-19 and priapism ... are very strong in our case, reports of further cases would strengthen the evidence,” the researchers said.
Priapism is diagnosed when an erection goes on for more than four hours or isn’t related to sexual stimulation, according to the Mayo Clinic. It’s uncommon yet usually painful, and occurs in men in their 30s or older with certain conditions such as sickle cell anemia.
“Prompt treatment for priapism is usually needed to prevent tissue damage that could result in the inability to get or maintain an erection (erectile dysfunction),” the Mayo Clinic said.
This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 11:30 AM with the headline "Did coronavirus cause a man to have a 4-hour erection? Doctors studied it to find out."
