Erectile dysfunction as an indicator of cardiovascular disease

Abstract

Introduction: Sexual dysfunction in male patients is considered as the difficulty to maintain or achieve a firm penile erection, therefore, a difficulty to maintain satisfactory sexual relations. Worldwide, it is estimated that 150 million male patients suffer from this disease and the average age is between 40 and 70 years of life. It is worth mentioning that cardiovascular disease is associated with this pathology thanks to fulfilling similar pathophysiological mechanisms.
Objective: To analyze the current bibliography and the relationship between erectile dysfunction as an indicator of cardiovascular disease.
Materials and methods: Information was collected from scientific articles in different search engines and databases such as PubMed and Medline, variants of the keyword headings, and combinations of words for erectile dysfunction and indicators of cardiovascular disease were used, articles were collected from 2017 until 2022, without language limitation, about erectile dysfunction as an indicator of cardiovascular disease. Among the inclusion criteria we have articles focused on erectile dysfunction as an indicator of cardiovascular disease and articles with original data (cohort case series, retrospective, clinical case-control studies). Studies related only to cardiovascular disease and articles with little explanation of the relationship between erectile dysfunction and cardiovascular damage were excluded from the review studies.
Results: It was evidenced that the most frequent cardiovascular pathologies that coexist in patients with ED (erectile dysfunction) are: 62% acute myocardial infarction, 44% associated with cardiovascular events, 39% cerebrovascular accidents and increased mortality in 25%. %. The onset time of cardiovascular disease after presenting erectile dysfunction in men is around 3 to 5 years (with an average of 4 years), which favors a crucial period for the identification of this pathology and the prevention of diseases with high mortality. .
Conclusions: There is good evidence regarding erectile dysfunction as an indicator of cardiovascular disease, which is why erectile dysfunction is considered an independent factor in predicting a cardiovascular event after the clinical presentation and vice versa, associating it as a clinical entity with great value at present, favoring immediate prevention after said finding, so it is important to raise awareness of the value of going to the consultation early.