• Raimund Helbok, Ehab Shaker, Ronny Beer, Andreas Chemelli, Martin Sojer, Florian Sohm, Gregor Broessner, Peter Lackner, Monika Beck, Alexandra Zangerle, Bettina Pfausler, Claudius Thome, and Erich Schmutzhard.
• Neurological Intensive Care Unit, Department of Neurology, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria. raimund.helbok@uki.at
• Bmc Neurol. 2012 Jan 1;12:32.

BackgroundVasospasm-related delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) significantly impacts on outcome after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Erythropoietin (EPO) may reduce the severity of cerebral vasospasm and improve outcome, however, underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. In this study, the authors aimed to investigate the effect of EPO on cerebral metabolism and brain tissue oxygen tension (PbtO2).MethodsSeven consecutive poor grade SAH patients with multimodal neuromonitoring (MM) received systemic EPO therapy (30.000 IU per day for 3 consecutive days) for severe cerebral vasospasm. Cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), intracranial pressure (ICP), PbtO2 and brain metabolic changes were analyzed during the next 24 hours after each dose given. Statistical analysis was performed with a mixed effects model.ResultsA total of 22 interventions were analyzed. Median age was 47 years (32-68) and 86 % were female. Three patients (38 %) developed DCI. MAP decreased 2 hours after intervention (P < 0.04) without significantly affecting CPP and ICP. PbtO2 significantly increased over time (P < 0.05) to a maximum of 7 ± 4 mmHg increase 16 hours after infusion. Brain metabolic parameters did not change over time.ConclusionsEPO increases PbtO2 in poor grade SAH patients with severe cerebral vasospasm. The effect on outcome needs further investigation.

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