Mayer G, Thum J, Cada E M, Stummvoll H K, Graf H
2nd Department of Medicine, University of Vienna, Austria.
Kidney Int. 1988 Oct;34(4):525-8. doi: 10.1038/ki.1988.213.
To investigate the effect of partial correction of anemia in patients maintained by chronic intermittent hemodialysis on aerobic and anaerobic working capacity, eight patients underwent a bicycle spiro-ergometry before and after treatment with recombinant human erythropoietin (r-HuEPO). the initial mean (+/- SD) hemoglobin value was 5.9 mg/dl +/- 0.61 and increased during treatment to 10.9 +/- 0.59 mg/dl, P less than 0.0001). This partial correction of anemia resulted in a significant increase of both oxygen uptake at the anaerobic threshold and peak peripheral oxygen uptake at subjective exhaustion (P less than 0.01 and P less than 0.0002, respectively). The increase in oxygen uptake corresponded to significant increases in Watts, both at the anaerobic threshold and at maximum workload (P less than 0.02 and P less than 0.0004). These data show that partial correction of renal anemia results in a significant increase of both exercise capacity and maximum work.
