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Recombinant erythropoietin linked to increased risk of ROP

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Cumulative recombinant erythropoietin exposure in infants born prematurely may be associated with an increased risk for retinopathy of prematurity, a retrospective study found.

Mark S. Brown, MD, MSPH, and colleagues in Denver compared charts from a 4-year period of 327 infants who were born at 30 weeks gestation or earlier, who weighed less than 1,500 g and who survived to an ocular examination at 6 weeks past birth. During the study period, all infants were dosed with recombinant erythropoietin.

The overall incidence of retinopathy of prematurity was 36%. Recombinant erythropoietin exposure was independently associated with an increased risk for progression of retinopathy, according to the study.

The authors suggested that nonhematopoietic properties of erythropoietin may account for the findings.

This study was published in the April issue of the Journal of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus.