Abstract

In 1998, we concluded that sildenafil (Viagra - Pfizer Ltd), a selective phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor, appeared to offer advantages over other medical approaches for erectile dysfunction in terms of ease of administration and cost.1 Oral drug treatment is now widely advocated as first-line therapy for erectile dysfunction,2 except where the cause is clearly psychological. In the past 4 years, three more oral preparations have been licensed in the UK for the treatment of men with erectile dysfunction. A sublingual preparation of the dopaminergic agonist ▼apomorphine (Uprima - Abbott Laboratories Ltd) is the first centrally acting drug to be licensed. ▼Tadalafil (Cialis - Eli-Lilly) and ▼vardenafil (Levitra - Bayer PLC) are phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors. Here we review the place of these preparations for men with erectile dysfunction.