Sildenafil for congenital heart diseases induced pulmonary hypertension, a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Abstract
Background Sildenafil was first prescribed for angina pectoris and then for erectile dysfunction from its effects on vascular smooth muscle relaxation and vasodilatation. Recently, sildenafil has been proposed for congenital heart diseases induced pulmonary hypertension, which constitutes a huge burden on children's health and can attribute to fatal complications due to presence of unoxygenated blood in the systemic circulation. Therefore, our meta-analysis aims to further investigate the safety and efficacy of sildenafil on children population. Methods We searched the following electronic databases: PubMed, Cochrane CENTRAL, WOS, Embase, and Scopus from inception to April 20th, 2022. Randomized controlled trials that assess the efficacy of using sildenafil in comparison to a placebo or any other vasodilator drug were eligible for inclusion. The inverse variance method was used to pool study effect estimates using the random effect model. Effect sizes are provided in the form of mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results Our study included 14 studies with ( n = 849 children) with a mean age of 7.9 months old. Sildenafil showed a statistically significant decrease over placebo in mean and systolic pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) with MD -7.42 (95%CI [-13.13, -1.71], P = 0.01) and -8.02 (95%CI [-11.16, -4.88], P < 0.0001), respectively. Sildenafil revealed a decrease in mean aortic pressure and pulmonary artery/aortic pressure ratio over placebo with MD…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a meta-analysis, done in people. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid. Reported size: 849 participants or records.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Treatment of non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: facing age-related comorbidities and drug–drug interactions
- The Efficacy of Flogofilm® in the Treatment of Chronic Bacterial Prostatitis as an Adjuvant to Antibiotic Therapy: A Randomized Prospective Trial
- Inhibition of growth and contraction in human prostate stromal cells by silencing of NUAK1 and -2, and by the presumed NUAK inhibitors HTH01-015 and WZ4003
- Effectiveness and Safety of a New Nutrient Fixed Combination Containing Pollen Extract Plus Teupolioside, in the Management of LUTS in Patients with Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy: A Pilot Study
- Extract from Cucurbita pepo improves BPH symptoms without affecting sexual function: a 24-month noninterventional study
- Aquablation vs. holmium laser enucleation of the prostate for benign prostatic hyperplasia: a 150-patients prospective comparative multicenter study
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.