Erythropoietin for Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy

In infants with moderate or severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) receiving therapeutic hypothermia, does high-dose erythropoietin administered in 5 doses over the first week after birth improve survival without neurodevelopmental disability? In a multicenter randomized clinical trial conducted in 24 neonatal intensive care units in Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore that included 313 participants, death or moderate or severe disability occurred in 47 of 138 participants (34.1%) who received erythropoietin and in 41 of 143 participants (28.7%) who received placebo. In infants with moderate or severe HIE, high-dose erythropoietin administered over the first week after birth did not reduce death or disability, but there was no definite signal for harm.

Corresponding Author: Helen G. Liley, MBChB, Mater Research Institute, University of Queensland, Raymond Terrace, South Brisbane, QLD 4101, Australia (hliley@uq.edu.au).

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