Administration in very-low-birth-weight infants from first day of life effective for prophylaxis
FRIDAY, Jan. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Administration of a fish-oil-based lipid emulsion in very-low-birth-weight infants may be useful for prophylaxis of severe retinopathy, according to a study published online Jan. 3 in Pediatrics.
In an observational study, Dorota Pawlik, M.D., Ph.D., of the Jagiellonian University Medical College in Kraków, Poland, and colleagues compared safety and efficacy outcomes of an intravenous fat emulsion that consisted of fish-oil emulsion (contains docosahexaenoic acid) with soybean and olive oil, administered from the first day of life to 40 infants who weighed less than 1,250 g. In addition, results were obtained from a historical cohort of 44 preterm neonates given an emulsion of soybean and olive oil.
The investigators found a significantly lower risk of laser therapy for infants who received an emulsion of soybean, olive oil, and fish oil. Between the two groups, the investigators found no significant differences in acuity and latency of visual evoked potentials. Among infants who received the fish-oil emulsion, no cholestasis was found. However, in the historical group, the investigators identified five infants with cholestasis, although there were none among those who received fish-oil emulsion (P = .056). The researchers concluded that fish-oil-based lipid emulsion given from the first day of life may be effective in prophylaxis of severe retinopathy.
"This is the first study, to our knowledge, in which the intravenous administration of fish-oil-based lipid emulsion in very-low-birth-weight infants from the first day of life is described. Whether this is an optimal dosage or preferential fish-oil emulsion, it should be assessed in blind controlled, multicenter studies," the authors write.
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