[Cardiovascular safety of vardenafil]

Vardenafil is a new type of PDE5 inhibitor (PDE5I) with great inhibiting potential on PDE5 (IC50: 0.01 nmol/L) for enhancing erectile function. International and domestic clinical studies showed it to be safe and effective in treating ED with mild temporary side effects such as headache, dizziness, flushing and rhinitis. In this paper we reviewed the cardiovascular safety of vardenafil. Studies showed that clinical dosage of vardenafil could decrease the systematic arterial blood pressure mildly (< 10 mmHg) , however, it did not interact in a potentially hazardous way with antihypertensive or antianginal therapy, with the exception of organic nitrates. Vardenafil slightly prolonged the QT interval (QTc) in cardiac repolarization, but with no evidence to prove that it could cause arrhythmia in clinical studies. The rates and categories of cardiovascular adverse events of vardenafil therapy were not significantly different from placebo in 5 clinical trials. Present studies demonstrated that clinical dosage of vardenafil appeared generally well tolerated in most patients with chronic and stable cardiovascular disease and it was an ideal drug for the first line treatment of ED.