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Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and erectile dysfunction (ED) are two conditions that often coexist. Both diseases are consequences of the systemic vascular disease, sharing common risk factors, like diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, smoking, obesity, dyslipidaemia. Furthermore, they share the same pathological basis, endothelial dysfunction. Symptoms of ED precede with three to five years the clinical manifestations of CVD. This period may be a window of opportunity for the early initiation of a prompt therapeutic action for cardiovascular risk factors. This article reviews the incidence and prevalence of CVD and ED, the common risk factors, the pathophysiological link between the two diseases, and the current diagnosis and management strategies of patients with CVD and ED, in order to prevent myocardial infarction, stroke or heart failure.

Radical prostatectomy is one of the most frequent therapeutic options used for the management of patients diagnosed with prostate cancer. Normal erectile function after radical prostatectomy is a great problem for numerous patients and a real challenge for urologists worldwide. The advancements that have been made over the years in terms of minimally invasive surgery, as well as in terms of surgical techniques, have reduced the incidence of erectile dysfunction, but even so, its rate remains high and the post-operative recovery of erectile function is a long and costly process. Phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors have provided excellent results and have become the first-line treatment for these patients, followed by intracavernous injections with alprostadil. Several studies have underlined the impact of phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors in terms of preventing the fibrotic changes that are responsible for the irreversible erectile dysfunction. The general opinion is that an erectile function recovery process should be started as soon as possible after surgery to prevent the negative effects of neuropraxia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]