G. Griffiths et al., RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED DOUBLE-BLIND-STUDY OF ROLE OF RECOMBINANT ERYTHROPOIETIN IN THE PREVENTION OF CHRONIC LUNG-DISEASE, Archives of Disease in Childhood, 76(3), 1997, pp. 190-192
Aim-To evaluate the role of recombinant human erythropoietin (R-HuEpo)
in reducing iron infusion, which may exacerbate free radical damage,
leading to chronic lung disease. Methods-A multicentre, randomised, pl
acebo controlled, double blind study was carried out in four neonatal
intensive care units in Yorkshire. Infants were randomly allocated and
received either R-HuEpo (480 U/kg/wk) or placebo by twice weekly subc
utaneous injection. The primary outcome measure was the number of days
on respiratory support and a secondary outcome the number of blood tr
ansfusions required. Results-Forty two very low birthweight (VLBW) inf
ants were randomly allocated. There was little difference in the need
for respiratory support one month after randomisation, but subsequentl
y there was a trend towards a reduction in the proportion requiring re
spiratory support in the R-HuEpo group (difference at three months -0.
50, 95% confidence interval -1.00, 0.17). During stay in hospital, the
median number of blood transfusions was lower for infants in the R-Hu
Epo group (difference in medians -2, 95% CI -4, 0). The study was stop
ped early because of failure to recruit babies at the expected rate. C
onclusions-R-HuEpo seems to reduce the number of days in oxygen for il
l VLBW infants. These data could be used to construct a larger multice
ntre study to evaluate this effect further.