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


METHODS
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.


RESULTS
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.


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-6320, USA.
R M
RM
McAdams
R J
RJ
McPherson
D E
DE
Mayock
S E
SE
Juul
D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004921:Erythropoietin / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D052577:Infant, Extremely Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D004921:Erythropoietin