The modern view on the problem of erectile dysfunction in patients with cardiovascular diseases demanding surgical correction (review)

Nowadays the erectile dysfunction is considered the key point in understanding of the mechanisms of development and progression of cardiovascular diseases. The number of patients with risk factors of cardiovascular diseases increases together with the worldwide frequency of sexual disorders. Every year about 17 million people die of cardiovascular diseases. During the last decades various surgical and endovascular methods of treatment of this pathology have been actively used. Annually in the United States more than 1 million percutaneous and about 520000 surgical procedures for myocardial revascularization are performed. In Russia, the number of such operations is estimated to be more than 20000 procedures. Besides the coronary heart diseases high percentage of surgical heart operations is caused by valve pathology. Every year all over the world there are about 280000 (in Russia about 10000) operations on different valve replacement. According to the increasing interest to the problem of erectile dysfunction as a predictor of cardiovascular diseases and rising number of cardiac surgery year by year, some questions seems to be especially actual. At first, how hemodynamic alterations affect sexual function of men after heart surgery? At second, whether if it is significant or not for the patients after such surgical interventions, and also: should we expect the improvement in the quality of sexual life or not? The evidence for the correlation of erectile function and functioning of the cardiovascular system, including changes in the sexual sphere after cardiovascular operations and the common effects of cardiopulmonary bypass procedures on erectile function, raises new questions about the methods of treatment of sexual disorders and the safety of their implementation in the individuals after cardiac surgery or endoscopic interventions.