FLUVOXAMINE AND IMPOTENCE

The antidepressant fluvoxamine (Duphar's Faverin) has been used with some success to treat erectile dysfunction in men, according to the Journal of Sexual Health (April/May). If the potential of the drug is borne out in further study, it could become the first oral treatment for impotence and do away with the need for intrapenile injections in certain patient groups.

72 men whose impotence did not respond to psychosexual counselling were treated with either fluvoxamine (n=44) or placebo (n=28). Those in the fluvoxamine group received 100mg at bedtime for 24 weeks, while the others took placebo in the form of 200mg ascorbic acid at bedtime for 12 weeks.

"After six weeks of treatment with fluvoxamine, 18% of the patients were able to achieve a full erection, increasing to 30% at 12 weeks and 34% at 24 weeks, while only 7% (2 patients) achieved a similar response in the placebo group," said Dr K Mohanty, consultant in genito-urinary medicine at St Luke's Hospital in Bradford, UK.