1 Section on Newborn Pediatrics, Pennsylvania Hospital, Eighth and Spruce Sts, Philadelphia, PA 19107
To the Editor.
Phelps' commentary, "E-Ferol: What Happened and What Now?"1 is an important reminder of the danger of using untested drugs. We feel, however, some points of clarification are needed.
First, Phelps cited Myers et al2 as using 1.1 mg/kg/d of E-acetate IV and raising serum E levels to 6 mg/dL in preterm infants. This is misquoted. Myers et al used 10 mg/kg of vitamin E over one hour (dl-
-tocopherol [Hoffman LaRoche] not E-acetate) and achieved levels of 0.6 mg/dL not 6 mg/dL at the end of the infusion.