Evaluate the level of Serum Erythropoietin in Premature Babies

Abstract

Background Erythropoietin is the growth hormone of erythropoiesis that produced mainly in the liver during fetal life and in the kidney during infancy. It’s  low level considered being the main cause of anemia in prematurity. The aim was to  measure serum erythropoietin concentrations in premature babies and correlate it to different hematological parameters. Patients & Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted for four months starting from 1st  December 2018 to 1st  March 2019, included 25 premature neonates admitted in neonatal care unit of Rapareen pediatric hospital & maternity hospital, Erbil, Iraq. All premature neonates whose gestational age  was between  28  -34 weeks  were included in the study regardless of their birth weight. Hemoglobin, hematocrit, reticulocyte count and serum erythropoietin levels were measured in premature babies at first and at the end of the fourth week.
The Results: Serum erythropoietin measured in total 25 premature babies, in which serum erythropoietin in 52% of them was within the normal range (2-20 mIU/ml) while in 48% were below this range. serum erythropoietin concentration positively correlated to gestational age (r=0.47) in contrast it was negatively correlated to the Hb (r=0.51) and PCV(r=0.34). Conclusion:  The results of this study suggest that about half of premature neonates had low serum EPO level while other half had normal serum EPO level in the 1st week of life, also we identified a strong negative correlation between serum EPO and Hb in the 1st month of life, therefore, there was a statistically significant difference between serum EPO in 1st week and  1st month.