Abstract

Objective: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is associated with chronic comorbidities, such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension. The attention has been recently focused on the link between ED and coronary artery disease (CAD) and it is accepted that ED can be an early predictor and independent risk factor for subclinical CAD. This study aimed to determine the relationship between ED and CAD in patients who had coronary angiography for suspected or known CAD.

Materials and methods: A total of 200 male patients who had coronary angiography between January 2008 and March 2009 for the suspected ischemic heart disease were studied. ED was evaluated for all participants by using the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) Questionnaire. The relationship between risk factors, such as age, hypertension, smoking, diabetes mellitus and the number of obstructed coronary arteries, and severity of ED was analyzed.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 58.35±9.43 years. In 113 of 141 (81.9%) patients who had angiographically-detected coronary obstruction, ED of varying degrees was present, while ED was not detected in 28 (19.1%) of them. The mean IIEF score of angiographically normal patients was 25.90±5.28, the values for patients with one, two, and three obstructed vessels were 23.91±5.18, 16.88±6.28, and 9.32±4.61, respectively. In comparison to normal subjects, the rate of ED increased 1.365 times in men with one vessel disease, the risk increased to 17.211 times in men with two or more obstructed vessels.

Conclusion: A significant proportion of men with CAD have ED and the degree of ED is associated with the number of obstructed vessels. ED may be an early predictor of asymptomatic CAD.