Background: human milk (HM) feeding in early life has positive effect on neural and visual development of preterm infants. I.C-PUFA, such as arachidonic (AA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids present in HM, could be one of the determining factors.

Study type: controlled, randomized prospective trial.

Subjects: 60 AGA low-risk preterm infants ≤ 34 wks g.a. fed three different milk diets for 14 weeks during the first months of life: a) their own mother's milk (N=15); b) standard formula for preterm infants(Prematil) (N=23);c) formula for preterms infants enriched with preformed DHA and AA (Prematil with Milupan) (N=22).

Measurements: acoustic analysis of infant cry and visual evoked potentials (VEPs), before begining the diet (mean postconceptional age 37.1±0.6 wks), 4 weeks (mean p.c.a. 42.5±0.5 wks) and 14 weeks(mean p.c.a. 51.1±0.6 wks) after the diet started.

Results: infants fed HM and formula enriched with AA and DHA showed better neurophysiological responses after 14 weeks of diet, when compared to the group fed standard formula (higher variability in the fundamental frequency of cry and higher reduction in P1 wave latency, as well as a higher percent reduction rate of P1 wave latency in VEPs) (p<.01).

Conclusions: these results suggest that an appropiate balance of arachidonic and docosaexahenoic acid supply, similar to HM content, may play an important role in enhancing neural and visual development in preterm infants.