Anne Truong MDMen's Sexual Health Doctor

The Test That Found His ED When Bloodwork Was Normal #ErectileDysfunction #ED

17 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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1:11

In this video, Dr. Anne Truong explains a case of erectile dysfunction (ED) where standard blood work, including testosterone levels, appeared normal or even elevated, yet the patient remained symptomatic. A CT scan of the abdomen revealed atherosclerotic disease in the iliac artery, the major vessel supplying blood to the groin and penis, indicating compromised arterial flow. A Doppler ultrasound confirmed a slight reduction in penile blood flow. While the patient reports low‑testosterone symptoms, his measured testosterone is high, suggesting a minor hormonal contribution. Dr. Truong emphasizes that the primary cause of this patient’s ED is vascular—reduced arterial inflow—detected through imaging studies, and that Doppler ultrasound is essential for uncovering such hidden vascular issues even when laboratory results look normal.

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He had a CT scan of his abdomen, and it does show that he has some atherosclerotic heart disease around the iliac artery, which is the one that goes down to the groin that provides all the blood vessels in the groin and also in the penis. So he's starting to have atherosclerotic heart disease in the big blood vessel that may be compromising blood flow Going down to— but you don't see that in his blood work, but you see that on just the abdominal test and also in Doppler ultrasound where he does have some slight decrease in blood flow to— So you have decreased blood flow, that's from doing the test called the Doppler ultrasound. And then he's symptomatic in low testosterone, though his testosterone level is high. The bottom line is that he has ED mainly from decreased blood flow, but you have to do a test called Doppler ultrasound to see that, even though his blood work looks good. And then just a little bit of low testosterone affecting it as well.