Cardiovascular and metabolic syndrome risk among men with and without erectile dysfunction: case-control study

context and objective: erectile dysfunction has been associated with cardiovascular diseases. the aim here was to evaluate cardiovascular risk through the framingham risk score (frs) criteria, c-reactive protein (crp) assays and presence of metabolic syndrome (ms) in men with and without erectile dysfunction diagnosed within a healthcare program. design and setting: a retrospective case-control study was conducted. the patients were selected from a healthcare program at the hospital israelita albert einstein, between january and december 2007. methods: 222 men were retrospectively selected, and they were divided into two groups: men with erectile dysfunction (n = 111) and men without erectile dysfunction (n = 111). the patients were stratified according to the international index of erectile function-erectile function domain (iief-ef domain). crp and frs were analyzed and the two groups were compared. results: the crp levels were significantly higher among men with erectile dysfunction (p = 0.04). patients with erectile dysfunction also had high frs (p = 0.0015). crp and frs did not correlate with the severity of erectile dysfunction. the presence of metabolic syndrome was greater among men with erectile dysfunction (p < 0.05). the severity of erectile dysfunction was directly associated with metabolic syndrome. conclusion: men with erectile dysfunction presented higher cardiovascular risk according to the frs criteria and crp measurements. severe erectile dysfunction seemed to have a correlation with metabolic syndrome.