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Recombinant erythropoietin (rEPO) is used in autologous blood donation, but its usefulness and side effects have not been evaluated thoroughly. A prospective clinical study was conducted in 20 patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm who underwent surgery following autologous blood predonation with rEPO therapy. The patients were 19 men and one woman ranging in age from 59 to 79 years old. The blood pressure was measured before and after blood withdrawal and rEPO injection, and before and after rEPO injection alone. The levels of endogenous EPO, prolactin, growth hormone, and thyroid hormones were compared before the first blood withdrawal and just before surgery. The volume of blood withdrawn was 800 mL (400 mL at each of two withdrawals) within 2 weeks, while 6,000 units of rEPO were injected four times. The blood pressure dropped after blood withdrawal and rEPO injection, but it showed no marked change after rEPO injection alone. The mean value of hemoglobin was decreased from 13.8 to 12.4 g/dL in 2 weeks, and all patients received autologous blood transfusion during surgery. No declamping shock was noticed, and only 2 of the 20 patients needed homologous blood transfusion. The levels of growth hormone and thyroid hormones did not change, but that of prolactin increased following blood predonation with rEPO therapy. No significant change of endogenous EPO was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the hemodynamics in the lower extremities before and after operations, ankle blood pressure and muscle blood flow in exercise testing were measured in 19 patients with chronic obstructive arterial disease and a chief complaint of intermittent claudication. The ankle and brachial pressures were measured before and just after exercise and the ankle pressure index (API) was obtained. The muscle blood flow was measured by 133Xe clearance method at thigh and calf. Arterial reconstruction was performed in 19 lower extremities of 17 patients and the claudication disappeared in all. The API of the revascularized lower extremities improved as much as the API of the nondaudicatory lower extremities. The muscle blood flow during exercise of these extremities increased markedly in the calf after operation. The API and muscle blood flow in exercise testing increased in 2 lower extremities of a patient who received PGE1 intraarterial infusions but not significantly. However, the API and muscle blood flow did not change in 1 lower extremity after lumbar sympathectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]