The study, which was funded by the American Heart Association and by Mayo Clinic, involved administering two exercise echocardiograms to 105 men with known or probable coronary artery disease. The testing was done on a reclining exercise bicycle to allow continuous ultrasound imaging of the heart, and it was combined with an electrocardiogram (ECG) to monitor the heart’s electrical activity. One stress test was given an hour after taking sildenafil and the other after taking a sugar pill. Both the patients and the researchers were blinded to when they were testing the drug and when they were using the placebo.
"In these patients, sildenafil had no adverse effect on symptoms or how long the men were able to exercise," says Patricia Pellikka, M.D., a Mayo Clinic cardiologist and the lead investigator for the study. "We expected and saw that echocardiograms of these heart disease patients would show evidence of inadequate blood supply to the heart muscle during exercise. The key finding, however, is that the problem was not made worse by sildenafil."
Because previous studies have shown that nitrates combined with sildenafil can lead to serious decreases in coronary blood flow and blood pressure, the men were required to stop taking nitrates at least three days before participating in this study.
Dr. Pellikka says the study has important implications for patients and physicians. "While 105 patients is not a large enough number to absolutely predict cardiac events, especially among particular subgroups, the overall message is that sildenafil does not increase oxygen deprivation to the heart, says Dr. Pellikka. As a cardiologist, these findings increase my confidence in prescribing sildenafil, which can have important quality of life benefits for patients. For men with coronary artery disease who are not taking nitrates, the study should provide reassurance that sildenafil is not likely to increase their heart attack risks."
VIDEO ALERT: Video, including b-roll and sound bites from the subject expert, will be fed at 2:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Feb. 12. See the end of this release for details. Video and sound bites are also available at www.mayo.edu/news.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2002
Viagra News Release
Eastern / Central
Test: 14:30-14:35 EST / 13:30-13:35 CST
Program: 14:35-15:00 / 13:35-14:00
Satellite Coordinates:
Ku-Band / C-Band
Satellite: Galaxy 11 / Galaxy 4R
Transponder: 13 (H) / 22 (V)
Channel: 13 / 22
Downlink Frequency: 11960 MHz / 4140 MHz
Audio: 6.2 or 6.8 MHz / 6.2 or 6.8 MHz
Longitude: 91° W / 99° W
For News Release information, please contact: 507-284-5005 (Mayo Clinic Communications)
For satellite technical questions or difficulties, contact:
(800) 608-3663 (Strategic Television) or (507) 284-9118 (Mayo Clinic Satellite Desk)
Contact:
Lee Aase
507-284-5005 (days)
507-284-2511 (evenings)
e-mail: newsbureau@mayo.edu
Journal
JAMA