Trial reportJournal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association2025
A prospective randomized pilot trial comparing weekly vs. biweekly Darbepoetin administration to preterm infants.
Trial report in Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Assessment of iron sufficiency in premature infants treated with darbepoetin using conventional and novel erythrocyte metrics.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026Article
- Development of an electrochemiluminescence assay to measure serum darbepoetin concentration in extremely preterm infants.Bioanalysis · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAdministering darbepoetin (Darbe) to preterm infants stimulates erythropoiesis, increases red blood cell (RBC) mass, and reduces RBC transfusions. We typically administer 10 µg/kg weekly until 34 weeks corrected gestation; however, we are uncertain whether this dose could be given every other week (biweekly) with equal efficacy.
methodsInfants ≤32 weeks were randomized to receive Darbe 10 µg/kg/dose weekly or biweekly for six weeks, tracking complete blood counts, absolute reticulocyte counts (ARC), iron status (RET-He), and RBC transfusions.
resultsWe enrolled 71 infants (1027 ± 369 grams, 27.3 ± 2.8 weeks). During the study period, the weekly-dosed group had a higher adjusted mean ARC (48,000/μL higher, 95% C.I. 9700-87,000/μL; p = 0.019). However, RET-He, Hgb, and transfusion-free survival were not different between groups (p = 0.071, p = 0.244, and p = 0.762).
conclusionsWeekly Darbe results in a higher six-week ARC than biweekly dosing. However, given similar clinical outcomes, perhaps biweekly dosing may be a cost-effective alternative.
Indexed as
Identifiers
40050405What 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.