Human Milk-Derived Fortifier as Rescue Therapy in Very Preterm Infants Intolerant to Cow's Milk-Derived Fortifier

Abstract

This was a retrospective, descriptive study where human milk-derived fortifier (HMDF) was used to rescue infants intolerant to cow's milk-derived fortifier (CMDF). Rescue therapy was used for newborns with feed intolerance, systemic symptoms, or thrombocytosis. In a total of 412 very preterm infants (gestational age ≤ 32 wk) admitted to NICU during the study period, 14 infants met the rescue protocol inclusion criteria. The mean gestational age of these 14 infants was 29.2 ± 1.2 wk and birth weight was 1161 ± 201 g. All the infants who received rescue protocol by changing over to HMDF tolerated feeds well and showed a positive growth trend. Four infants had thrombocytosis, out of which 2 infants had elevated platelet count even with HMDF. Premature infants with intolerance to CMDF were effectively managed using HMDF as a rescue protocol. Infants tolerated HMDF well and showed positive growth trends till the discharge.

Keywords: CMDF; Feed intolerance; HMDF; Human-milk fortifier; Thrombocytosis.