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| |  HFSA: Sildenafil Improves Arterial Pressure and Compliance in Hypertensive Heart Transplant Recipients By Gina Alexis Special to DG News BOCA RATON, FL -- September 27, 2002 -- Sildenafil appears to be generally safe, well tolerated and significantly improves arterial pressure in a group of male heart transplant recipients (HTR) with post-transplant hypertension (HTN). Researchers from the University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida, United States, presented their findings at a poster session on September 24th at the 6th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA). They recruited a group of 11 adult male cardiac transplant recipients with chronic post-transplant hypertension who were prescribed at least one hypertension medication. Patients were required to rest on their backs for 15 minutes after which a series of baseline measurements were recorded, including heart rate, brachial artery blood pressure and radial artery pulsewave analysis. An aortic pressure wave was synthesized using a validated generalized transfer function (SphygmoCor). The researchers then calculated aortic augmentation index (AIa), travel time of the reflected pressure wave, and tension time index (TTI). Patients were given a single 50 mg dose of sildenafil orally, and all the measurements were repeated at 15-minute intervals. The mean age of the group was 56.2 years. Their baseline heart rate was 89.8 beats per minute and it did not change after taking sildenafil. Brachial systolic pressure decreased from baseline, 139.1 mm Hg to 128.7 mm Hg at 30 minutes (p<0.001); as did brachial diastolic pressure from 88.2 mm Hg to 82.9 mm Hg at 45 minutes (p=0.0035) and brachial pulse pressure also decreased from a baseline of 50.9 mm Hg to 45.3 at 30 minutes post-sildenafil (p=0.0049). Likewise, central aortic systolic blood pressure decreased from 123.0 to 113.1 at 30 minutes (p=0.00032); central aortic pulse pressure decreased from 32.9 mm Hg to 28.0 mm Hg at 30 minutes (p=0.0052). Aortic augmentation decreased from a baseline of 10.0 percent to 2.64 percent at 30 minutes (p=0.010); and mean round trip reflected pressure wave travel time increased from a baseline of 138.5 ms to a peak of 148.1 ms at 30 minutes (p=0.0001). Finally, tension time index decreased from 2866.5 pressure-time units to 2658.5 at 45 minutes (p=0.00019). The authors reported that sildenafil is safe and well tolerated and improves arterial pressure in hypertensive HTR, with peak effects between 30-45 minutes.
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