Cyclosporine treatment for patients with CRF who developed pure red blood cell aplasia following EPO therapy

Human recombinant erythropoietin is the main treatment for anemia in renal patients. Recently, there have been case reports of pure red blood cell aplasia (PRCA) developing in renal patients administered erythropoietin, probably because of neutralizing antibodies detected in all these patients. All reports were from the West, and most patients were treated with erythropoietin-alpha. Cyclosporine is an immunosuppressive agent used to treat a spectrum of autoimmune conditions. We report a series of Chinese renal patients who developed PRCA after treatment with erythropoietin-alpha, suggesting that this is a problem worldwide. They were treated successfully with cyclosporine and became transfusion independent.