Trial reportPediatric research2023
Risk of seizures in neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy receiving hypothermia plus erythropoietin or placebo.
Trial report in Pediatric research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Early and extended erythropoietin monotherapy after hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy: a multicentre double-blind pilot randomised controlled trial.Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition · 2024Trial
- Article
- Early arterial blood gas parameters, clinical features, and neuroimaging findings in neonates undergoing therapeutic hypothermia for suspected hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy: a retrospective single-center study.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Defining neonatal status epilepticus: A scoping review from the ILAE neonatal task force.Epilepsia open · 2025Article
- Erythropoietin for Seizures and Epilepsy: Neuroprotective Effects, Mechanisms, and Contradictory Risks.CNS & neurological disorders drug targets · 2025Review
- Machine learning for forecasting initial seizure onset in neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.Epilepsia · 2025Article
- EEG background activity, seizure burden and early childhood outcomes in neonatal encephalopathy in Uganda: a prospective feasibility cohort study.EClinicalMedicine · 2024Article
- Treating Seizures and Improving Newborn Outcomes for Infants with Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy.Clinics in perinatology · 2024Review
- Relationship of Neonatal Seizure Burden Before Treatment and Response to Initial Antiseizure Medication.The Journal of pediatrics · 2024Article
- Association of EEG Background and Neurodevelopmental Outcome in Neonates With Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy Receiving Hypothermia.Neurology · 2023Article
- Article
- A narrative review on treatment strategies for neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.Translational pediatrics · 2023Review
- Evaluation of neurovascular coupling during neuroprotective therapies: A single site HEAL ancillary study.Early human development · 2023Article
- Optimal neuromonitoring techniques in neonates with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
18 authors at 11 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAn ancillary study of the High-Dose Erythropoietin for Asphyxia and Encephalopathy (HEAL) trial for neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and treated with therapeutic hypothermia examined the hypothesis that neonates randomized to receive erythropoietin (Epo) would have a lower seizure risk and burden compared with neonates who received placebo.
methodsElectroencephalograms (EEGs) from 7/17 HEAL trial centers were reviewed. Seizure presence was compared across treatment groups using a logistic regression model adjusting for treatment, HIE severity, center, and seizure burden prior to the first dose. Among neonates with seizures, differences across treatment groups in median maximal hourly seizure burden were assessed using adjusted quantile regression models.
resultsForty-six of 150 (31%) neonates had EEG seizures (31% in Epo vs 30% in placebo, p = 0.96). Maximal hourly seizure burden after the study drug was not significantly different between groups (median 11.4 for Epo, IQR: 5.6, 18.1 vs median 9.7, IQR: 4.9, 21.0 min/h for placebo).
conclusionIn neonates with HIE treated with hypothermia who were randomized to Epo or placebo, we found no meaningful between-group difference in seizure risk or burden. These findings are consistent with overall trial results, which do not support Epo use for neonates with HIE undergoing therapeutic hypothermia. IMPACT: In the HEAL trial of erythropoietin (Epo) vs placebo for neonates with encephalopathy presumed due to hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) who were also treated with therapeutic hypothermia, electrographic seizures were detected in 31%, which is lower than most prior studies. Epo did not reduce the proportion of neonates with acute provoked seizures (31% in Epo vs 30% in placebo) or maximal hourly seizure burden after the study drug (median 11.4, IQR 5.6, 18.1 for Epo vs median 9.7, IQR 4.9, 21.0 min/h for placebo). There was no anti- or pro-convulsant effect of Epo when combined with therapeutic hypothermia for HIE.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.