Trial reportActa paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992)2020
Improved brain growth and microstructural development in breast milk-fed very low birth weight premature infants.
Trial report in Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review over the Effect of Early Infant Diet on Neurodevelopment: Insights from Neuroimaging.Nutrients · 2024Pooled it
- Oral care with human milk is associated with increased human milk feeding and breastfeeding for newborns with critical congenital heart disease.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026Article
- The influence of nutrition on white matter development in preterm infants: a scoping review.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Donor human milk and structural brain development in very preterm infants.Pediatric research · 2026Observational
- Towards improving outcomes: Protein, body composition, and brain development in preterm infants.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Breast Milk Donation After Perinatal Loss: A Qualitative Exploration of Maternal Grief and Healing Among Israeli Arab Women and the Islamic Legal-Ethical Perspectives: A Qualitative Research Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Early parenteral lipid intake supports cerebellar neurometabolism at term-age in preterm infants.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2025Observational
- Perinatal Neuroprotection in Preterm Birth.Geburtshilfe und Frauenheilkunde · 2025Article
- Article
- Cerebellar Development and the Burden of Prematurity.Cerebellum (London, England) · 2025Review
- L-carnitine: new perspectives on the management of preterm infants.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Review
- Brain development using a multicomponent intravenous lipid emulsion in preterm infants.BMC pediatrics · 2024Article
- Review
- The association between duration of breastfeeding and the trajectory of brain development from childhood to young adulthood: an 8-year longitudinal study.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2024Article
- Human milk, breastfeeding, and early neurodevelopmental outcomes for infants with critical CHD.Cardiology in the young · 2024Article
- Article
- Effect of breast milk intake volume on early behavioral neurodevelopment of extremely preterm infants.International breastfeeding journal · 2024Article
- Bereaved mothers' experience of expressing and donating breast milk: An interpretative phenomenological study.Maternal & child nutrition · 2023Article
- Early biomarkers of neurodevelopmental disorders in preterm infants: protocol for a longitudinal cohort study.BMJ open · 2023Article
- The Role of Work as a Social Determinant of Health in Mother's Own Milk Feeding Decisions for Preterm Infants: A State of the Science Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
aimBreast milk feeding is linked to improved neurodevelopmental outcomes in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants, though the mechanisms are not well understood. This study utilised quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (qMRI) techniques to compare brain growth and white matter development in preterm infants receiving primarily breast milk versus formula feeds.
methodsWe prospectively enrolled infants born at very low birth weight (<1500 g) and <32 weeks gestational age and performed MRI at term-equivalent age. We utilised volumetric segmentation to calculate regional and total brain volumes and diffusion tensor imaging to evaluate white matter microstructural organisation. Daily nutritional data were extracted from the medical record.
resultsNutritional and MRI data were obtained for 68 infants admitted within the first week of life (44 breast milk and 24 formula). Breast milk-fed infants demonstrated significantly larger total brain volumes (P = .04) as well as volumes in the amygdala-hippocampus and cerebellum (P < .01) compared with formula-fed. Infants receiving breast milk also demonstrated greater white matter microstructural organisation in the corpus callosum, posterior limb of internal capsule and cerebellum (P < .01 to .03).
conclusionVLBW infants receiving primarily breast milk versus preterm formula in this small exploratory study demonstrated significantly greater regional brain volumes and white matter microstructural organisation by term-equivalent age.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.