• R Chacón Aguilar, M Escorial Briso-Montiano, M Sopetrán Rey García, C García Sanz, M Rupérez Lucas, and J López-Herce Cid.
• Sección de Cuidados Intensivos Pediátricos, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
• An Pediatr (Barc). 2004 Nov 1;61(5):398-402.

ObjectiveTo analyze whether erythropoietin treatment increases hemoglobin and decreases transfusion requirements in critically ill children.Patients And MethodsWe performed an observational, prospective study of 23 critically ill children aged between 1 month and 6 years. Recombinant human eritropoietin (rHuEPO) was administered at a dosage of 150-750 U/kg/week over 3 days. Hemogram, reticulocyte, iron metabolism, serum ferritin and transferrin were measured before treatment started and weekly thereafter.ResultsAfter erythropoietin treatment, hematocrit, hemoglobin and red blood cells progressively increased, with a maximal response in the sixth week. At the end of treatment, hemoglobin increased 1.68 g/dl, hematocrit by 5 % and erythrocytes 600,000/ml/mm3. Transfusion requirements decreased from 59 transfusions at baseline to 12 in the first week of treatment and none from the sixth week. No treatment-related adverse effects were observed.ConclusionErythropoietin can be an effective treatment for anemia in some critically ill children, decreasing the number of transfusions and increasing hemoglobin.

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