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Outcomes of extremely low birth weight infants given early high-dose erythropoietin

Journal of Perinatology volume 33, pages 226–230 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Objective:

To evaluate long-term outcomes of 60 extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants treated with or without three injections of high-dose erythropoietin (Epo).

Study Design:

A retrospective analysis of anthropometric and neurodevelopmental outcome data comparing 30 ELBW infants enrolled in a phase I/II study examining the pharmacokinetics of high-dose Epo (500, 1000 and 2500 U/kg × 3 doses) administered to 30 concurrent controls.

Result:

Birth characteristics and growth from 4 to 36 months were similar for untreated and Epo-treated patients. Multiple linear regression analysis of neurodevelopmental follow-up scores from 17/25 Epo-treated and 18/26 control infants identified that Epo correlated with improvement of cognitive (R=0.22, P=0.044) and motor (R=0.15, P=0.026) scores. No negative long-term effects of Epo treatment were evident.

Conclusion:

Retrospective analysis of the only available long-term follow-up data from ELBW infants given high-dose Epo treatment suggests that Epo treatment is safe and correlates with modest improvement of neurodevelopmental outcomes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Marianne Bricker for help with data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    R M McAdams, R J McPherson, D E Mayock & S E Juul

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  1. R M McAdams
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  2. R J McPherson
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  3. D E Mayock
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  4. S E Juul
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Correspondence to S E Juul.

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McAdams, R., McPherson, R., Mayock, D. et al. Outcomes of extremely low birth weight infants given early high-dose erythropoietin. J Perinatol 33, 226–230 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2012.78

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2012.78

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