Hemodynamic and clinical benefits associated with chronic sildenafil therapy in advanced heart failure: experience of the Montréal Heart Institute.

BACKGROUND

Pulmonary hypertension is highly prevalent in advanced heart failure (HF) despite optimal medical and device therapies. The objective of this investigation was to report on a single centre's experience of open-label chronic sildenafil therapy in patients with advanced HF.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective systematic medical record review of all patients evaluated at our institution for heart transplantation who had also been treated with chronic sildenafil therapy. Baseline demographics, comorbidities, and concomitant medications, as well as the results of laboratory investigations and physiological testing, were abstracted from patient medical records. Change in systolic and mean pulmonary artery pressure (PAP), transpulmonary gradient, cardiac output and cardiac index, and selected laboratory parameters was analyzed by means of the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Outcomes of interest included New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class after 6 months of therapy and adverse effects attributable to sildenafil.

RESULTS

The 16 patients undergoing evaluation for cardiac transplantation combined for 4166 patient-days on sildenafil, with a mean dose of 102.5 ± 54.0 mg/d. None discontinued because of side effects. At 6 months, there was an improvement in the cardiac index (P = 0.014) and systolic PAP (P = 0.049) without any significant change in other hemodynamic parameters. Ten patients (62.5%) experienced an improvement in their NYHA functional class, 8 (50%) received a heart transplantation, and 2 (12.5%) improved sufficiently to be removed from the transplant list.

CONCLUSION

Chronic sildenafil therapy was well tolerated and associated with improved functional capacity and decreased systolic PAP. Properly controlled randomized studies of the long-term usefulness of sildenafil therapy in advanced HF populations are warranted.