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). Study Design: A retrospective analysis of anthropometric and neurodevelopmental outcome data comparing 30 ELBW infants enrolled in a phase I/II study examining the pharmacoldnetics of high-dose Epo (500, 1000 and 2500 U/kg x 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. Journal of Perinatology (2013) 33, 226-230; doi:10.1038/jp.2012.78; published online 21 June 2012