Suetonia C Palmer, Valeria Saglimbene, Dimitris Mavridis, Georgia Salanti, Jonathan C Craig, Marcello Tonelli, Natasha Wiebe, Giovanni F M Strippoli
BACKGROUND: Several erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) are available for treating anaemia in people with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Their relative efficacy (preventing blood transfusions and reducing fatigue and breathlessness) and safety (mortality and cardiovascular events) are unclear due to the limited power of head-to-head studies. OBJECTIVES: To compare the efficacy and safety of ESAs (epoetin alfa, epoetin beta, darbepoetin alfa, or methoxy polyethylene glycol-epoetin beta, and biosimilar ESAs, against each other, placebo, or no treatment) to treat anaemia in adults with CKD...
December 8, 2014: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews