A double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial of sildenafil, brand name Viagra, showed improvement in echocardiogram measures of myocardial performance in children and young adults after Fontan surgery - basically, kids with congenital heart defects were helped by a drug commonly associated with sexual dysfunction in older men.
Fontan surgery, also called the Fontan/Kreutzer procedure, was developed in 1968 and first performed by Francis Fontan, where he connected the right atrium directly to the pulmonary artery, basically meaning he got a defective heart to work without the right ventricle, functioning with three chambers instead of four.
27 kids, mean age 14.9 years and an 11.3 year mean time after Fontan surgery, got either sildenafil or a placebo for six weeks, then had a six week break, then they switched. EKGs were performed at the beginning and end of each and those on Viagra showed boosts in their myocardial performance index and overall diastolic performance.
It's a pretty narrow group but a big win for Viagra, which can apparently do anything. Bonus: it's actually helping kids without using scare journalism to claim they need protection from playing outside, or whatever the latest kooky helicopter parent craze is. And I am always a fan of helping kids in meaningful ways, especially ones who just had bad genetic luck.
Citation: David J. Goldberg, Benjamin French, Anita L. Szwast, Michael G. McBride, Bradley S. Marino, Nicole Mirarchi, Brian D. Hanna, Gil Wernovsky, Stephen M. Paridon and Jack Rychik, 'Impact of Sildenafil on Echocardiographic Indices of Myocardial Performance After the Fontan Operation', Pediatric Cardiology, 13 February 2012 DOI: 10.1007/s00246-012-0196-9
