The neuroprotection of early use of recombinant human erythropoietin in premature infants: a Meta-analysis of efficacy and safety / 中国新生儿科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To systematically review the clinical efficacy and safety of early use of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHu-EPO) for neuroprotection in premature infants.Method From establishment of the databases to November 2017,clinical randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of early use of rHu-EPO in premature infants were searched on English databases (PubMed,Embase,Cochrane Collaboration) and Chinese databases (CNKI,SinoMed,Wanfang,and VIP Database).Patients receiving conventional therapy were assigned into control group,and patients receiving both conventional therapy and rHu-EPO were assigned into rHu-EPO group.rHu-EPO group was subdivided into high-dose continuous group and low-dose intermittent group.We retrieved the related literatures,evaluated the quality,and then performed Meta-analysis using RevMan 5.3 software.Result A total of 2 588 patients in 17 studies were included and analyzed.Compared with the control group,Meta-analysis showed that early use of rHu-EPO was more effective in improving NBNA scores at 40 weeks of corrected gestational age (cGA) (MD=2.46,95％CI 1.58～3.33,P＜0.001),and high-dose continuous group was better than low-dose intermittent group (MD=3.19,95％CI 0.45～5.93,P=0.002;MD=2.22,95％CI 1.29～3.16,P＜0.001).Low-dose intermittent use of rHu-EPO significantly increased mental development index (MDI) (MD=6.66,95％CI 0.80～12.51,P=0.010) and psychomotor development index (PDI) (MD=5.77,95％CI 4.00～7.55,P＜0.001),and reduced the incidence of MDI＜70 at cGA 18～22 months (OR=0.42,95％CI 0.27～0.67,P＜0.001).As to the safety and side effects,treatment with rHu-EPO reduced the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (OR=0.48,95％CI 0.31 ～0.72,P＜0.001) and periventricular leukomalacia (OR=0.52,95％CI 0.35～0.75,P＜0.001)without increasing the risk of bronchial dysplasia,patent ductus arteriosus,retinopathy in prematurity and intraventricular hemorrhage.Conclusion Current evidence shows that the early use of rHu-EPO in premature infants is relatively effective and safe,but multi-center RCTs are still needed.