A pilot study on the visual development of premature infants fed fortified human milk post hospital discharge.
Published: 2007
Language: eng
Number of pages: 118
ISBN-13: 9780494273852
Description: Many premature infants are discharged from hospital exhibiting overt signs of poor growth and undernutrition. Inadequate nutrition in early life negatively impacts the visual development of premature infants. Human milk offers benefits to the developing visual system of premature infants, but may not contain enough nutrients to correct deficiencies accumulated in hospital. This study investigated the use of a multi-nutrient human milk fortifier for 12 weeks post-hospital discharge and its impact on visual development. Thirty-nine infants were randomized to receive either human milk or fortified human milk. At 4 and 6 months corrected age (CA) the infant's visual acuity and contrast sensitivity were measured using visual evoked potentials. Infants receiving fortified human milk demonstrated improved visual acuity (p=0.0239) and improved contrast sensitivity (in infants born > 1250g) (p=0.046). Multi-nutrient fortification of human milk resulted in improved visual acuity and contrast sensitivity at 4 and 6 months CA.
Notes: Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 3139.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Toronto, 2007.

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