Increased erythropoietin requirements in patients with failed renal transplants returning to a dialysis programme.

The response to erythropoietin (Epo) is dose dependent but, for various poorly understood reasons, variable. In a cross-sectional study we determined the Epo requirement of 60 patients in a dialysis population to identify those patients requiring a high dose of Epo, and ascertained the reasons for higher requirements, paying particular attention to the effect of previous transplantation. All 289 patients attending a single centre were surveyed.