Long-term cognitive and neurological outcome of preterm infants with postnatally acquired CMV infection through breast milk.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: All surviving infants 4 years. A blinded and controlled matched-pairs design was used with gestational age, gender and date of birth as matching criteria. RESULTS: Of 50 eligible children, 42 (84%) could be tested. There was no difference in the prevalence of cerebral palsy. Following CMV infection during their hospital stay, infants had significantly lower results in the simultaneous processing scale of the K-ABC (p=0.029) after correction for additional risk factors like socioeconomic status (SES). Results for the sequential and achievement scales were only slightly reduced (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: It seems possible that breast milk-acquired CMV infection has a detrimental influence on cognitive development of preterm infants.