EPIDEMIOLOGY OF NECROTIZING ENTEROCOLITIS

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a worldwide problem that has emerge d in the past 25 years as the most common gastrointestinal emergency i n neonatal intensive care units (NICU). In the United States the incid ence ranges from 1 to 7.7% of NICU admissions. Ninety percent of the p atients are premature infants. Mucosal injury, bacterial colonization and formula feeding are the three major pathogenetic factors that have been documented in most infants who have developed NEC. However, NEC may develop only if a threshold of injury, imposed by the coincidence of at least two of three events (intestinal ischemia, pathogenic bacte ria, and excess of protein substrate) is exceeded. Immunological immat urity of the gut in premature babies may represent the crucial risk fa ctor.