"We think that erectile dysfunction represents the 'tip of the iceberg' of a systemic vascular disorder; thus potentially preceding severe cardiovascular events. Erectile dysfunction should be part of a cardiovascular risk assessment. These patients should be considered at high risk for coronary artery disease and should have high priority for aggressive treatment," said Emilio Chiurlia, Ph.D. from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Modena, Italy.

The researchers studied 70 men with erectile dysfunction and 73 control subjects who were of similar age and race (all Caucasian), and had similar coronary risk factor scores according to estimates published by the National Cholesterol Education Panel III. None of the men had symptoms of coronary atherosclerosis.

The men with erectile dysfunction had higher levels of C-reactive protein (an emerging coronary risk factor), they were more likely to have abnormal blood vessel responses to changes in blood flow (as measured by flow mediated dilation), and more of them had coronary artery calcifications detected on coronary CT scans.

"When a man is diagnosed with erectile dysfunction, clinicians should be aware that erectile dysfunction would represent an early clinical manifestation of a diffuse subclinical vascular disease and coronary artery disease is the most important problem that needs to be investigated. The smaller penile arteries suffer obstruction from plaque burden earlier than the larger coronary arteries hence erectile dysfunction may be symptomatic before a coronary event," Dr. Chiurlia said.

Dr. Chiurlia noted that this study involved only a small number of men and did not follow them over time to see which ones actually de
'"/>

Contact: Amy Murphy
amurphy@acc.org
301-581-3476
American College of Cardiology
11-Oct-2005