Successful treatment of neonatal rhesus hemolytic anemia with high doses of recombinant human erythropoietin.

The authors report the use of high-dose recombinant erythropoietin (r-HuEPO) in a full-term newborn baby with severe postnatal rhesus hemolytic anemia (RHA). Hemoglobin (Hb) value and reticulocyte count at day 13 of life were 59 g/L and 234 x 10(9)/L, respectively. Three days after the r-HuEPO (870 U/kg/d) administration, reticulocyte count had increased more than 4-fold and Hb rose to 73 g/L. r-HuEPO was gradually decreased after 18 days of treatment. No major side effect was observed. In selected cases of severe anemia due to hemolytic disorders, transfusions may be avoided by the use of high doses of r-HuEPO.