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Is erythropoietin beneficial and safe as an adjunctive therapy to therapeutic hypothermia in newborns with hypoxic ischemic injury?

Journal of Perinatology volume 43, pages 1552–1555 (2023)Cite this article

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Wu YW, Comstock BA, Gonzalez FF, Mayock D, Goodman AM, Maitre NL, et al.; HEAL consortium. Trial of erythropoietin for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in newborns. N Engl J Med 2022; 387(2): 148–159. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2119660.

In infants ≥36 weeks’ gestation at birth with moderate to severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), does the administration of high-dose erythropoietin compared to placebo in conjunction with therapeutic hypothermia lower the incidence of death or neurodevelopmental impairment at 22–36 months of age?

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Acknowledgements

The Journal Club is a collaboration between the American Academy of Pediatrics – Section of Neonatal Perinatal Medicine and the International Society of Evidence-Based Neonatology (EBNEO.org).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neonatology, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA

    Abigail L. Melemed, Jonathan L. Slaughter & Kristen L. Benninger

  2. The Ohio Perinatal Research Network, Center for Perinatal Research, The Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA

    Jonathan L. Slaughter, Kristen L. Benninger & Sara Conroy

  3. Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Jonathan L. Slaughter & Kristen L. Benninger

  4. Division of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Jonathan L. Slaughter

  5. Center for Biostatistics, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA

    Sara Conroy

  6. Biostatistics Resource at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA

    Sara Conroy

Authors
  1. Abigail L. Melemed
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  2. Jonathan L. Slaughter
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  3. Kristen L. Benninger
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  4. Sara Conroy
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Contributions

ALM conducted literature review and primarily drafted the manuscript. JLS and KLB assisted by providing supplementary resources for review, offering edits and design modifications, and revising additional drafts. SC offered edits and oversight to sections discussing statistical analysis. All authors reviewed and agreed upon the final submission.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Abigail L. Melemed.

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Competing interests

All authors have denied any direct conflicts of interest in regard to funding or financial gain relevant to this manuscript. Of note, Dr. Benninger was involved in the HEAL consortium and is included among the original authors of the 2022 article that is cited. Additionally, Dr. Slaughter is a principal investigator of the PIVOTAL trial which receives supplementary grant funding from Abbott in addition to grant funding from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) (UH3 HL161338).

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Melemed, A.L., Slaughter, J.L., Benninger, K.L. et al. Is erythropoietin beneficial and safe as an adjunctive therapy to therapeutic hypothermia in newborns with hypoxic ischemic injury?. J Perinatol 43, 1552–1555 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-023-01773-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-023-01773-7

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