Controlled Trial of Sildenafil in Advanced Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Trial published at NEJM
involve 180 pt Advanced Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (defined as a carbon monoxide diffusion capacity of < 35% of the predicted value)
sildenafil did not cause a significant difference in the proportion of patients with an improvement of 20% or more in the 6-minute walk distance at 12 weeks (the primary outcome). There were small differences favoring sildenafil in some secondary outcomes, including the degree of dyspnea and quality of life.
patients receiving sildenafil during period 1 had symptomatic benefit of arterial blood gas and carbon monoxide diffusion capacity, as compared with placebo-treated patients.
previously published data showing that sildenafil improved ventilation–perfusion matching
Implication:sildenafil was associated with symptomatic improvement may be of value to patients with advanced idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.