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Clinical and blood rheologic stability in erythropoietin-treated predialysis patients
1Department of Medicine, SUNY, Brooklyn.
We assessed human recombinant erythropoietin (rHuEPO) as treatment for anemia in azotemic patients who did not require dialytic therapy. The study group consisted of 5 azotemic men and 5 women (mean serum creatinine concentration 5.2 +/- 3.2 mg/dl) whose mean hematocrit was 27.4 + 3.0%. Of these, 5 subjects had diabetic nephropathy. The study was a 12-month rHuEPO maintenance (open label) trial in which a previously established median i.v. dose of 50 U/kg was given three times each week. The rHuEPO was temporarily discontinued when the target hematocrit of 37% was achieved, and after the hematocrit decreased below 35%, it was restarted at half the initial dose. Of the 10 subjects who started the trial, 2 (both nondiabetic) deteriorated early in the study, and before a hematocrit rise was attained commenced maintenance hemodialysis. All subjects completed the year of study and achieved the target hematocrit. Mean hematocrit rose 42% (p less than 0.001) in a mean period of 3.3 +/- 1.3 months. When treatment was interrupted at a hematocrit of 37%, mean absolute reticulocyte count fell from 1.21 +/- 0.59% to 0.38 +/- 0.14% within one week. After rHuEPO was withdrawn, the increase in hematocrit persisted for a mean of 13.0 +/- 6.0 days and patients were able to sustain hematocrits above 35% for a mean of 1.44 +/- 0.6 months. Coincidentally with the rise in hematocrit during rHuEPO treatment, whole-blood viscosity increased significantly (p less than 0.001) but remained within the range for individuals with normal renal function at an equivalent hematocrit (p greater than or equal to 0.5).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
We assessed human recombinant erythropoietin (rHuEPO) as treatment for anemia in azotemic patients who did not require dialytic therapy. The study group consisted of 5 azotemic men and 5 women (mean serum creatinine concentration 5.2 +/- 3.2 mg/dl) whose mean hematocrit was 27.4 + 3.0%. Of these, 5 subjects had diabetic nephropathy. The study was a 12-month rHuEPO maintenance (open label) trial in which a previously established median i.v. dose of 50 U/kg was given three times each week. The rHuEPO was temporarily discontinued when the target hematocrit of 37% was achieved, and after the hematocrit decreased below 35%, it was restarted at half the initial dose. Of the 10 subjects who started the trial, 2 (both nondiabetic) deteriorated early in the study, and before a hematocrit rise was attained commenced maintenance hemodialysis. All subjects completed the year of study and achieved the target hematocrit. Mean hematocrit rose 42% (p less than 0.001) in a mean period of 3.3 +/- 1.3 months. When treatment was interrupted at a hematocrit of 37%, mean absolute reticulocyte count fell from 1.21 +/- 0.59% to 0.38 +/- 0.14% within one week. After rHuEPO was withdrawn, the increase in hematocrit persisted for a mean of 13.0 +/- 6.0 days and patients were able to sustain hematocrits above 35% for a mean of 1.44 +/- 0.6 months. Coincidentally with the rise in hematocrit during rHuEPO treatment, whole-blood viscosity increased significantly (p less than 0.001) but remained within the range for individuals with normal renal function at an equivalent hematocrit (p greater than or equal to 0.5).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)