Early treatment with erythropoietin β ameliorates anemia and reduces transfusion requirements in infants with birth weights below 1000 g

Iron Status and Neurobehavioral Development of Premature Infants

“…19,32 Other studies have set the target levels of serum ferritin in irontreated premature infants as over 100 mg/l. 33,34 Thus, for this study we defined 'low ferritin' concentrations as r75 mg/l. Group 1, included 18 infants who were anemic with low serum ferritin concentration (Hgbr10 g/Dl and serum ferritin r75 mg/l).…”

Recombinant human erythropoietin improves neurological outcomes in very preterm infants

“…Erythropoietin (EPO) was first recognized for its hematopoietic properties; recombinant human EPO (rhEPO) has been used to treat a number of anemic states, including early and late anemia of prematurity, and it has been found to be safe and to reduce the need for blood transfusions 6. EPO produced in the central nervous system7 is upregulated after insult and plays a role in neuroprotection 8, 9, 10, 11.…”

Effect of Beginning Recombinant Erythropoietin Treatment Within the First Week of Life, Among Very-Low-Birth-Weight Neonates, on “Early” and “Late” Erythrocyte Transfusions: A Meta-Analysis

“…General characteristics of the 12 acceptable, relevant, studies [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] are given in Table 1, listed in chronological order of publication. The 12 studies involved a total of 1090 VLBW neonates; 561 rEpo and 529 placebo recipients.…”

“…10,12 Studies published before 1995 all used a subcutaneous route of rEpo administration; 6-8, 15,16 afterward, the route was intravenous in some [9][10][11]13,14,17 and subcutaneous in others. 12,14,17 The route of administration of iron was enteral at 2 to 6 mg/kg/day, with three exceptions; Ohls et al 11 included iron dextran (1 mg/kg/day) in the hyperalimentation solution as a continuous administration in one study and intravenous iron at 5 mg/kg/week followed by enteral administration at 6 mg/kg/day in another trial. 14 Lauterbach et al 10 used 10 mg iron/kg/week intravenously.…”

“…[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Studies that did not include the use of a placebo in their design, but described a procedure to maintain appropriate masking, were also considered eligible. [15][16][17] Studies were included in the meta-analysis if the authors reported at least one of the following outcomes: proportion of neonates transfused, mean number of transfusions per patient, and mean volume of erythrocyte transfusion for both rEpo and control groups.…”