¹Department of Urology, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan

Correspondence: Dr K Kobayashi, Department of Urology, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, S1W16, Chou-ku, Sapporo, Japan. E-mail: kou@sapmed.ac.jp

Received 22 June 2005; Revised 19 August 2005; Accepted 19 August 2005; Published online 6 October 2005.

Abstract

The approved maximal dose of sildenafil is only 50 mg in Japan, but the impact of dose regulation on treatment outcomes has not been established. Moreover, the contributors to the efficacy in patients having an intact peripheral nervous system have not been fully elucidated. We assessed in Japanese patients the treatment outcomes of sildenafil for erectile dysfunction (ED) under regulation of the approved dose and identified factors contributing to its efficacy among those with various etiologies other than pelvic surgery. We retrospectively reviewed 196 ED patients treated with sildenafil. The overall efficacy was 70.9% (139/196), and patients with psychological problems and concomitant cardiovascular disease showed high response rates (82.4 and 87.0%, respectively). Of the 139 responders, 89.9% achieved efficacy with a dose of 25 or 50 mg. Logistic regression analysis revealed concomitant cardiovascular disease and a favorable nocturnal penile tumescence result to be independent contributors to the efficacy.