Necrotizing enterocolitis--a 5-year experience

With the increased survival of very-low-birth-weight neonates, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) represents one of the most frequent life-threatening conditions for this population. NEC was diagnosed on 24 occasions during a 5-year period (1977-81) at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Kaplan Hospital, Rehovot. These 24 NEC cases, confirmed by radiological, surgical or pathological findings, were analyzed in a retrospective study. The mean weight was 1,450 g and the mean gestational age 32 weeks. Only one of the affected infants was a full-term newborn. The mean age at onset of symptoms was 9.8 days. In one case, NEC developed before feedings were started. The infectious agents--most frequently gram-negative rods--were isolated from the most seriously ill babies. Cultures from blood and gastric aspirate were positive in 10 of the 12 fatal cases. No bacteria were isolated from the blood among the survivors. Rotavirus, the only viral particle detected, was diagnosed in the bloody stools of two of the infants who recovered completely. Prophylactic therapy with oral kanamycin, administered to all premature infants weighing less than 1,500 g born over a 3-year period, did not appear to have a preventive influence. The overall mortality was 50%, with no sequelae observed among survivors. The high incidence of positive cultures among fatal cases suggests that overwhelming infection played a fundamental role in the outcome.