ABSTRACT
Background: Erythropoietin [EPO] is known as a regulating hormone for the production of red blood cells, called erythropoiesis. Some studies have shown that EPO exerts some non-hematopoietic protective effects on ischemia-reperfusion injuries in myocytes. Using echocardiography, we evaluated the effect of EPO infusion on reducing ischemia-reperfusion injuries and improvement of the cardiac function shortly after coronary artery bypass graft surgery [CABG]
Methods: Forty-three patients were recruited in this study and randomly divided into two groups: the EPO group, receiving standard medication and CABG surgery plus EPO [700 IU/ kg], and the control group, receiving standard medication and CABG surgery plus normal saline [10 cc] as placebo. The cardiac function was assessed through echocardiography before as well as at 4 and 30 days after CABG
Results: Echocardiography indicated that the ejection fraction had no differences between the EPO and control groups at 4 days [47.05 +/- 6.29 vs. 45.90 +/- 4.97; P=0.334] and 30 days after surgery [47.27 +/- 28 vs. 46.62 +/- 5.7; P=0.69]. There were no differences between the EPO and control groups in the wall motion score index at 4 [P=0.83] and 30 days after surgery [P=0.902]. In the EPO group, there was a reduction in left ventricular end-systolic and end-diastolic diameters [LVESD and LVEDD, respectively], as compared to the control group
Conclusion: Our results indicated that perioperative exogenous EPO infusion could not improve the ventricular function and wall motion index in the immediate post-CABG weeks. Nevertheless, a reduction in LVEDD and LVESD at 4 days and 30 days after CABG in the EPO group, by comparison with the control group, suggested that EPO correlated with a reduction in the remodeling of myocytes and reperfusion injuries early after CABG