Cardiovascular parameter changes in patients with erectile dysfunction using pde-5 inhibitors: a study with sildenafil and vardenafil.

Sildenafil is the most prescribed oral agent for patients with erectile dysfunction (ED). Vardenafil is a new phosphodiesterase type 5 (Pde-5) inhibitor that was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration last year to treat patients with ED of various causes. Both of these Pde-5 inhibitors have vasodilating properties and effects on blood pressure (BP), and like nitrates, they work through the nitric oxide cyclic guanosine monophosphate pathway.