Neonatal necrotising enterocolitis: new thoughts for the 'eighties

Neonatal necrotising enterocolitis has become one of the commonest abdominal emergencies seen by the paediatric surgeon. Historical aspects of the condition and current ideas regarding its pathogenesis are described. An immunological basis for the disease is suggested by its relative rarity in regions where breast feeding is widespread and by recent research work on the intestinal immune system. A new theory about the aetiology of the disease, stressing not a specific pathogen but rather the concept of defective intestinal immunity, is postulated.