Clinical aspects of safety and efficacy of androgen therapy in the treatment erectile dysfunction

Monotherapy with inhibitors of phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE-5) is not always effective; in some cases it is associated with a concomitant hypogonadism. Therefore, these patients require combination therapy with androgens and inhibitors of PDE-5. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of androgen therapy in patients with erectile dysfunction (ED) and hypogonadism. We observed 241 patients with laboratory-proven hypogonadism, in this study. Follow-up was 100 weeks. All patients noted improvement in general (including sexual) activity, increased libido, reduced body weight and percent body fat, improved mood and memory, sleep normalization. Evaluations of laboratory data showed a positive trend, with not only normalize the levels of total and free testosterone, but the important biochemical and anthropometric indices in study group. All patients noted subjective improvement in voiding, reducing the severity of nocturia. Combination therapy of androgen drugs and inhibitors of PDE-5 was effective in 14 (82.4%) patients in the tadalafil and 18 (90%) patients in the vardenafil group. Thus, combination therapy of testosterone and PDE-5 inhibitors safe and effective in sexually active patients with hypogonadism after exclusion of contraindications.