This study evaluates the ability of the drug sildenafil to improved exercise capacity, cardiac performance during exercise, and quality of life in patients with moderate to severe CF lung disease. 3/4 of the subjects will receive sildenafil and 1/4 will receive placebo.
Over time, patients with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) develop disabling lung disease that progresses to chronic respiratory failure, exercise intolerance with marked limitation of physical activity, and premature death. Despite substantial improvements in care, patients with CF often develop pulmonary vascular disease (PVD) that leads to pulmonary hypertension. Previous studies have clearly linked severe pulmonary hypertension and right heart failure with high mortality in CF. Early clinical manifestations of PVD prior to the development of cor pulmonale include shortness of breath and dyspnea with exertion, but the extent to which PVD contributes to the decline in exercise tolerance and quality of life in patients with CF is not known. Early evidence of PVD could be recognized in CF patients through standardized exercise testing and echocardiographic evaluation. Identifying those CF patients with PVD prior to the onset of right ventricular dysfunction may allow pharmacologic intervention to attenuate the progression of cardiovascular disease and improve quality of life. Clinical trials have demonstrated that treatment with the phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor, sildenafil, can decrease pulmonary vascular resistance and improve exercise tolerance in non-CF patients with pulmonary hypertension. Because experimental and clinical studies have implicated impaired NO-cGMP signaling in the pathophysiology of lung disease in CF, sildenafil may provide a novel pharmacological approach for treating PVD in patients with CF lung disease.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
QUADRUPLE
Enrollment
14
active sildenafil
sugar pill that looks like sildenafil tablets
National Jewish Health
Denver, Colorado, United States
6 Minute Walk Distance
Change in distance walked between week 1 and week 13 were compared. The difference between the two time points is reported.
Time frame: Weeks 1, 13
Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test Work Rate
Work rate (the amount of energy being expended to cycle) was assessed at weeks 1 and 13. The change in maximum work measured during CPET between weeks 1 and 13 is reported.
Time frame: Weeks 1 and 13
Cystic Fibrosis Quality of Life-Revised Respiratory Domain Score
The CFQ-R Respiratory domain score (scale 0-100 with higher scores indicating better quality of life) was assessed at weeks 1 and 13. The change in the score between week 1 and week 13 is reported.
Time frame: Assessed at weeks 1 and 13
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