Abstract
Objective This study aims to investigate the changes of serum erythropoietin (EPO) in premature
infants with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) after birth.
Method The premature infants were divided into two groups, the first were infants with ROP,
and the rest were infants without ROP. The peripheral blood of these infants after
birth was collected, aiming to identify the correlation of serum EPO with ROP in the
first 8 weeks after birth and before 38 weeks' postconceptual age.
Results A total of 299 infants without ROP and 107 infants with ROP were recruited into our
study. It was suggested that serum the EPO level in ROP group was significantly lower
than it is in the group without ROP on the 28th day after birth. The median value
of serum EPO in the group with and without ROP at day 28 of life were 0.44 mIU/mL
and 0.62 mIU/mL, respectively (p = 0.017). These data indicated that there was no significant association between
serum EPO and the clinical factors. Multivariate analysis identified only EPO serum
level on the 28th day after birth and gestational age as independent predictors of
ROP (p was 0.025 and 0.021, respectively).
Conclusion EPO serum level may serve as a surrogate marker for the development of ROP.
Keywords
retinopathy of prematurity - erythropoietin - serum levels - premature infants
