Survey on clinical use and non-use of recombinant human erythropoietin in European neonatal units
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Katharina Bolte
Abstract
Objectives
Recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) has been shown to effectively and safely prevent the anemia of prematurity and to reduce the transfusion need in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants and has been licensed for this indication in Europe in 1997. The objective of the study was to obtain information on the use or non-use of rhEPO in neonatal units in Germany and other European countries.
Methods
Anonymized 14-questions web-based questionnaire.
Results
Seventy-nine questionnaires from Germany and 63 questionnaires from other 15 European countries were completed. Of the responders, 39% indicated to use rhEPO routinely or occasionally in VLBW infants, whereas 61% responded to never use rhEPO in this population. The major reasons given for non-use were lack of recommendation in national guidelines (69%) and/or doubt about efficacy of rhEPO to reduce transfusion need (53%). Twenty-seven percent of the responders indicated to use rhEPO for neonates with birth weights above 1,500 g. Neuroprotection in VLBW infants (26%) and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy in term neonates (27%) were given as indications for off label use of rhEPO.
Conclusions
This survey indicates that rhEPO is used for the anemia of prematurity as licensed in less than half of neonatal units in Germany and other European countries. On the other hand it seems to be used off label in neonates for neuroprotection in a considerable number of units although there is no final evidence on its neuroprotective effects.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank all the colleagues for completing the questionnaire.
Research funding: None declared.
Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.
Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.
Ethical approval: Approval of the appropriate Ethics committee has been obtained before start of the study (Medical Faculty, Philipps University Marburg, registration number 75/16).
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Supplementary Material
The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/jpm-2020-0070).
© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Review
- Perinatal outcomes in vanishing twin pregnancies following assisted reproductive technology (ART) – a systematic review and meta-analysis
- Mini Review
- Cervical insufficiency: a noteworthy disease with controversies
- Original Articles – Obstetrics
- Individualized birth length and head circumference percentile charts based on maternal body weight and height
- Cellular immune responses in amniotic fluid of women with a sonographic short cervix
- Comparison of buprenorphine and methadone in the management of maternal opioid use disorder in full term pregnancies
- Influence of newborn head circumference and birth weight on the delivery mode of primipara: what is more important?
- Estimated fetal weight and severe neonatal outcomes in preterm prelabor rupture of membranes
- Which technique is better to place a manoeuvrable vacuum extractor cup on the flexion point? Vacca vs. Bird technique
- Pregnancy-specific transcriptional changes upon endotoxin exposure in mice
- Effects of nifedipine on fetal cardiac function in preterm labor
- Violence against trainees: urgent ethical challenges for medical educators and academic leaders in perinatal medicine
- Original Articles – Newborns
- Comparison of image quality in brain MRI with and without MR compatible incubator and predictive value of brain MRI at expected delivery date in preterm babies
- Survey on clinical use and non-use of recombinant human erythropoietin in European neonatal units
- An alternative approach to developing guidelines for the management of an anticipated extremely preterm infant
