A Study on Utilization of Erythropoietin in Renal Anemia

Recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) plays a significant role inthe therapy of renal anemia. The EPO use in pre-dialysis andcontinuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) is essential inmaintaining the normal hemoglobin and PCV in renal anemia patients.A prospective observational study was carried out for period of sixmonths with the aim to study the utilization of erythropoietin in renal failure patients with anemia, to study the effect of erythropoietin in blood pressure of the study subjects and to study the effects of erythropoietin in hemoglobin and hemotocrit level. In a total of 30 patients, 22 (73%) were male and 8 (27%) were female. About 60 (n=18) percent of the study population fall in the age group between 41 and 60 years which was followed by 8 (27%) patients in the age group of 61 to 80 years. 81.48% patients were treated with a combination of Erythropoietin, iron, folic acid and vitamins. 3 (11.11%) patients were treated with a combination of Erythropoietin and iron supplements and 2 (7.41%) patients were treated with only erythropoietin. In 27 patients both Hb and PCV were increased significantly from 7.34± 0.85 g/dl and 21.52± 2.72% at baseline to 10.23± 1.27 g/dl and 32.3± 3.21% respectively at the end of study period. Serum ferritin and iron at baseline showed that 393.11±415.65 ng/ml and 66.96±28.1 ng/ml respectively.