Docosahexaenoic Acid and Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in Preterm Infants

BackgroundStudies in animals and in humans have suggested that docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an n−3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid, might reduce the risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, but appropriately designed trials are lacking. MethodsWe randomly assigned 1273 infants born before 29 weeks of gestation (stratified according to sex, gestational age [<27 weeks or 27 to <29 weeks], and center) within 3 days after their first enteral feeding to receive either an enteral emulsion providing DHA at a dose of 60 mg per kilogram of body weight per day or a control (soy) emulsion without DHA until 36 weeks of postmenstrual age. The primary outcome was bronchopulmonary dysplasia, defined on a physiological basis (with the use of oxygen-saturation monitoring in selected infants), at 36 weeks of postmenstrual age or discharge home, whichever occurred first. ResultsA total of 1205 infants survived to the primary outcome assessment. Of the 592 infants assigned to the DHA group, 291 (49.1% by multiple imputation)...