Review after Viagra baby deaths

The reported overseas deaths of babies involved in a clinical trial exploring a potential treatment using Viagra has prompted a review from researchers who have been running an aligned study here in New Zealand.

The international research STRIDER consortium has involved four trials — one of them carried out here and in Australia — investigating a possible use for the drug in treating fetal growth restriction.

Sildenafil, marketed as Viagra, is used to treat male erectile dysfunction by dilating blood vessels in the pelvis and researchers wondered whether it might work the same way in pregnant women by increasing blood supply to the placenta.

But last week, one of the trials, which was being carried out in the Netherlands, was terminated early due to safety concerns.

Results from a planned interim analysis showed more babies in the sildenafil group suffered a serious lung condition, called persistent pulmonary hypertension, which may have led to 11 more liveborn babies dying before hospital discharge.

About 26.6 per cent of babies in the sildenafil group suffered a serious lung condition, compared with 5.2 per cent in the placebo group, while 26.8 per cent of babies died before being discharged, compared with 14.3 per cent in the placebo group.

The Dutch trial began in 2015 and was due to run until 2020, with the participation of 350 patients.

Human trials had been given the go-ahead after successful experiments on rats.

The New Zealand and Australian study involved 122 pregnant women from New Zealand and Australia, half of whom regularly took Viagra, with the other half taking a placebo.

Its chief investigator, Associate Professor Katie Groom of the University of Aucklandbased Liggins Institute, said the local study had found no evidence of a positive effect from sildenafil — but no evidence of harm.