Erectile dysfunction as a marker of silent cardiovascular disease in type-2 diabetic patients in Spain. The DIVA (DIabetes and VAscular disease) study

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a sign of vascular disease in type 2 diabetic patients. The present subanalysis of the DIVA Registry, whose main objective was to estimate the prevalence of clinical vascular disorder and silent vascular disorder, as well as risk factors in type 2 diabetic patients treated in Spain, aims to analyze the relationship between those data and the prevalence of ED in these patients. A total of 2444 type 2 diabetic patients (56% male; mean age 65.2 years) attended by 387 cardiologists and endocrinologists at ambulatory care were included. Coronary heart disease was present in 37% of the patients, cerebrovascular disease in 12%, and peripheral arterial disease in 13%. Forty percent of male patients had ED (according to the IIEF criteria), although in this group, as compared to those patients without ED, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and signs of subclinical vascular disorder (microalbuminuria and abnormal ankle/brachial index (ABI)) was higher. The only independent predictor of ED was left ventricular hypertrophy (OR 5.2; 95% CI: 1.1-24.1; P=.03), with the ABI