Medtronic stent may help erectile dysfunction when drugs fail

<p>A drug-coated stent developed in Sonoma County by Medtronic Inc. to unclog arteries may provide doctors with a new way to treat erectile dysfunction.</p><p>A study released Wednesday found the Medtronic stent is safe and improves erectile function in men who don't respond to drugs like Viagra, Levitra and Cialis.</p><p>The clinical trial is the first to test stents for treating impotence in men who don't respond to drug therapy, researchers said.</p><p>The stent — a tiny wire mesh tube similar to those used to prop open heart arteries — was based on technology developed in Santa Rosa, where Medtronic has 840 employees.</p><p>Investigators implanted stents in 30 men, with an average age of 60, who suffered from erectile dysfunction caused by narrowed arteries in the pelvis. There were no safety problems such as clots or the need for repeat surgery one month after treatment in the study, which was funded by Minneapolis-based Medtronic. The men reported a 68 percent improvement in erectile function three months later.</p><p>“Achieving a good erection requires a variety of vascular components to work well, including a good flow of blood to the penis through the arteries,” said Jason Rogers, director of interventional cardiology at the University of California Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.</p><p>While drugs like Viagra relax the spongy tissue to allow the blood to enter, “if you don't have good inflow into the penis, it doesn't matter how much that tissue relaxes, you don't have a good erection,” he said.</p><p>Thirty million men in the United States and more than 300 million worldwide suffer from erectile dysfunction. The majority of the cases stem from vascular problems, including insufficient blood from the arteries, studies show.</p><p>The study was released at the annual meeting for Vascular Interventional Advances in Las Vegas.</p><p>Bloomberg News contributed to this report</p>