Effect of the correction of anemia with recombinant human erythropoietin on growth of children treated with CAPD.

UNLABELLED: Anemia correction with recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) has been suggested to have a positive effect on nutritional status by improving appetite and protein metabolism. To assess this effect growth velocity and various parameters of nutritional status of 10 children on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) were estimated at the start and one year after the correction of anemia. There was no significant improvement of growth velocity after EPO administration. Energy and protein intake, standard deviation scores of anthropometric measurements, BUN, serum creatinine, albumin, potassium, phosphorous and protein catabolic rate did not differ significantly before and after EPO administration. There was a significant correlation of protein intake and protein catabolic rate.

CONCLUSION

There was no significant improvement of nutritional status and growth of children on CAPD treated with EPO, possibly because there was no evidence of malnutrition in most patients.