Necrotizing enterocolitis of the newborn.

The clinical presentation, diagnostic features, therapeutic measures, and results of treatment of 29 infants with the firmly established diagnosis of necrotizing enterocolitis are reviewed. A cohort of control patients are studied in an attempt to identify risk factors which may predispose infants to develop this serious complication of the newborn period. The incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis in our series is 1.2 per 1000 live births, similar to that reported by other investigators. The prognosis is particularly grave in infants of very low birth weight and among those who exhibit radiographic evidence of portal venous air or who develop disseminated intravascular coagulation.