Viagra saves baby's life!

One of the side effects of Viagra - is lowering the blood pressure in the lungs. This side effect is made use of to treat conditions like PPHN.

Viagra. You know what it is used for. But it was in the news in Bangalore recently for an entirely different reason: For saving a baby's life. And therein lies a little story.

'Meconium aspiration syndrome' is a condition in which a baby passes stool (called meconium) while still in the womb. Sometimes this meconium enters the lungs through the windpipe - while the baby is still in the womb as the baby is "filled with fluid" inside the womb. This can damage the lungs or sometimes even the presence of meconium in the fluid - without entering into the lungs - can cause 'reactionary' hypertension (called Primary Pulmonary Hypertension or PPHN). This is one of the most severe complications of this condition and is called 'pulmonary hypertension', which can be fatal. The world over, mortality and morbidity caused by this condition can be as high as 80%.

Apart from providing mechanical support for breathing, and nitric oxide, there are new medications like Viagra being tried to salvage babies with this complication. One of the side effects of Viagra - is lowering the blood pressure in the lungs. This side effect is made use of to treat conditions like PPHN. This also causes the blood pressure in the rest of the body to go low - balancing this act sometimes is critical for the baby - you need to give medications to increase blood pressure in the body and aim for reducing blood pressure in the lungs.