Recombinant erythropoietic growth factors as an alternative to erythrocyte transfusion for patients with "anemia of prematurity".

Erythrocyte transfusion is a commonly used treatment in neonatal medicine. This was illustrated by Blanchette and Zipursky who tabulated the transfusions given to preterm infants at the Hospital for Sick Children. They reported that in the first 6 weeks of life 90% of patients received at least one transfusion and nearly 50% of patients received cumulative transfusions in excess of their total circulating RBC mass. During the first 2 weeks of life most transfusions given to preterm infants are for the purpose of replacing blood withdrawn for laboratory tests. However, after that time transfusions are usually given for an anemia that is not attributable to blood withdrawal, nutritional deficiencies (vitamin E, iron, folate, etc) or genetic abnormalities.