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THURSDAY, Nov. 2 (HealthDay News) -- The erectile dysfunction drug Viagra may have found a new, potentially life-saving use in hospital pediatric intensive care units, researchers report.
Australian researchers gave the drug to 15 babies with congenital heart disease who were being weaned from inhaled nitric-oxide therapy, a treatment that ICUs use to help these infants survive.
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The researchers found that a dose of Viagra prevented a common life-threatening complication called rebound pulmonary hypertension. They also found that it significantly reduced the amount of time the babies spent on mechanical ventilation and in the ICU.
"Rebound pulmonary hypertension is a very common problem," said Dr. Steven Abman of The Children's Hospital in Denver, who was not part of the study. "This is the most rigorous study that's ever been done to demonstrate that Viagra can prevent this complication."
The study results were published in the November issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Viagra is useful for treating both erectile dysfunction and preventing rebound pulmonary hypertension because it affects pathways involved in both conditions.
"Viagra enhances the body's levels of cyclic-GMP, a naturally occurring substance that relaxes arteries and reduces their pressure, which is why its primary indication is for men with erectile dysfunction," explained the study's lead researcher, Dr. Lara Shekerdemian of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.
"However, cyclic-GMP is abundant in the lungs and is the molecule via which nitric oxide acts as a dilator of pulmonary arteries," Shekerdemian said. "That's why its use was explored in the setting of pulmonary hypertension in the newborn."
In the study, Shekerdemian and colleagues gave a single dose of Viagra to 15 infants with congenital heart disease who were undergoing withdrawal from nitric oxide, which is used to relax pulmonary blood vessels in mechanically ventilated lungs. Another 14 infants undergoing withdrawal were given placebo.
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