Erythropoietin Treatment in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Title:Erythropoietin Treatment in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Volume: 14 Issue: 6

Author(s): Xiyang Yao, Dapeng Wang, Haiying Li, Haitao Shen, Zhang Shu*Gang Chen*

Affiliation:

• Department of Neurosurgery, Taicang First People’s Hospital, Taicang, 215400,China

• Department of Neurosurgery & Brain and Nerve Research Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 188 Shizi Street, Suzhou 215006,China

Keywords: Acute ischemic stroke, erythropoietin, meta-analysis, randomized controlled trials, recombinant tissue plasminogen activator, systematic review.

Abstract: Objective: Erythropoietin (EPO) for treating acute ischemic stroke (AIS) has been investigated in many studies. However, the evidence was inconsistent. Thus, a systematic review and metaanalysis were performed to elucidate the role of EPO in treating patients with AIS.

Methods: Two electronic databases (PubMed and EMBASE) were used. 30-day NIHSS measures primary outcome while all-cause mortality in the follow up and 90-day Barthel Index were regarded as secondary outcome. Results are presented as relative risk (RR), standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). We employed Stata software to perform the meta-analysis.

Results: Four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 784 patients were contained in this metaanalysis. The total combined results on 30-day NIHSS were (SMD = -0.52, 95% CI: -1.39, 0.34) with random-effects model and sensitivity analysis showed a significant difference after excluding the Ehrenreich 2009 trial. The total combined secondary measured results were (RR=1.72, 95% CI: 1.10, 2.70) and (SMD = 0.01, 95% CI: -0.14, 0.16) for all-cause mortality and 90-day Barthel Index. In the subgroup analysis by using recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) earlier, the rtPA group showed increased all-cause mortality with the result of (RR = 1.92, 95% CI: 1.04, 3.52), but not in non-rtPA group.

Conclusion: To our systematic review and meta-analysis, we didn’t recommend EPO administration for patients with AIS, especially with the combination of rtPA. Large RCTs are warranted to examine EPO efficacy in AIS patients in the future.

Cite this article as:

Yao Xiyang, Wang Dapeng, Li Haiying, Shen Haitao, Shu Zhang*, Chen Gang*, Erythropoietin Treatment in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials, Current Drug Delivery 2017; 14 (6) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1567201813666160822104813

DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1567201813666160822104813	Print ISSN 1567-2018
Publisher Name Bentham Science Publisher	Online ISSN 1875-5704