Human Milk-Based Fortification No Aid for Extremely Preterm Infants

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 10, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Human milk-based fortification does not aid outcomes in extremely preterm infants fed exclusively with breast milk, according to a study published online Jan. 2 in eClinicalMedicine.

Georg Bach Jensen, from Linköping University and Crown Princess Victoria Children's Hospital in Sweden, and colleagues randomly assigned (1:1) 228 extremely preterm infants (born between gestational week 22 + 0 and 27 + 6) who were fed exclusively human breast milk (mother's own and/or donor milk) to receive targeted fortification with either human milk-based fortifier (HMBF) or bovine milk-based fortifier (BMBF).

The researchers found that 35.7 percent of infants assigned to HMBF fulfilled the criteria of either necrotizing enterocolitis, sepsis, or death versus 34.5 percent of infants assigned to BMBF (odds ratio, 1.05; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.61 to 1.81; P = 0.86). There were no significant differences between the groups for adverse events.

"We acknowledge that the results of the present trial may need to be verified by other studies," the authors write. "Further, potential effects on growth and neurodevelopmental outcomes still remain to be evaluated, and such follow-up analyses from this study are ongoing."

One author disclosed ties to Prolacta Bioscience, which partially funded the study.

Abstract/Full Text