Effect of erythropoietin therapy on clinical outcome in patients after acute ischemic stroke: a debatable issue

Excerpt

Our recent clinical trial has shown that erythropoietin (EPO) therapy significantly increased circulating endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) levels and was strongly associated with favorable 90-day clinical outcomes after ischemic stroke (IS) [1]. Contrary to the findings of our study [1] and of others [2, 3], the randomized phase II/III German Multicenter EPO Stroke Trial [4], which is currently the largest clinical study on EPO treatment in patients with IS, not only failed to show any additional benefit but also demonstrated increased mortality after combined therapy with EPO and tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) [4]. Interestingly, subgroup analysis of the study revealed that EPO therapy improved 90-day clinical outcome in patients without additional tPA therapy [4]. In this way, the findings from the subgroup analysis of that study [4] corroborate those of our clinical trial [1]. …