Cerebral Hemorrhage Associated with Sildenafil (Revatio) in an Infant

A case of cerebral hemorrhage associated with sildenafil (Revatio) use in an infant is presented. Sildenafil is increasingly used in the treatment of primary and secondary pulmonary arterial hypertension and pulmonary arteriovenous fistula. In the reported case, sildenafil used to treat pulmonary arteriovenous fistula improved right-to-left shunting across the pulmonary fistula but resulted in cerebral hemorrhage. Cerebral hemorrhage, a previously reported complication of sildenafil, developed in an infant after a rapid increase in dose, to 4.7 mg/kg/day. Therefore, sildenafil doses must be increased only with care, and cerebral hemorrhage must be considered a potential complication.