[Utility of recombinant human erythropoietin on the anemia of elderly hemodialysis patients].

Recombinant human erythropoietin was administered to 59 patients over 65 years of age receiving maintenance hemodialysis treatment in Kyoto and Shiga district, in order to evaluate its utility on renal anemia. After 6 months of administration, the hematocrit rose from 20.8 +/- 3.5% to 28.0 +/- 3.7% with concomitant improvement of subjective symptoms related to anemia. Twelve patients developed side effects, in 10 of whom elevation of blood pressure was observed. We found no clinically significant abnormalities in the laboratory data. In conclusion, recombinant human erythropoietin is highly useful in the treatment of renal anemia in elderly hemodialysis patients.