Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Jul;32(7):552-8.
doi: 10.1038/jp.2011.176. Epub 2011 Dec 8.

Hospital and neurodevelopmental outcomes of extremely low-birth-weight infants with necrotizing enterocolitis and spontaneous intestinal perforation

T A Shah  1 , J Meinzen-Derr, T Gratton, J Steichen, E F Donovan, K Yolton, B Alexander, V Narendran, K R Schibler
Affiliations

Hospital and neurodevelopmental outcomes of extremely low-birth-weight infants with necrotizing enterocolitis and spontaneous intestinal perforation

T A Shah et al. J Perinatol. 2012 Jul.

Abstract

Objective: We sought to determine the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and spontaneous intestinal perforation (SIP) in surviving extremely low-birth-weight (ELBW, <1000 g birth weight) infants and to establish the impact of NEC on outcomes by hospital discharge and at 18 to 22 months adjusted age in a large, contemporary, population-based practice.

Study design: Hospital outcome data for all ELBW infants born in the greater Cincinnati region from 1998 to 2009 were extracted from the National Institute of Child Health Neonatal Research Network Database. Neurodevelopmental outcome at 18 to 22 months was assessed using Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II scores for Mental Developmental Index and Psychomotor Developmental Index. Multivariable logistic regression was used and adjusted odds ratios reported to control for confounders.

Result: From 1998 to 2009, ELBW infants accounted for 0.5% of the 352 176 live-born infants in greater Cincinnati. The incidence of NEC was 12%, with a 50% case-fatality rate. Death before discharge, morbid complications of prematurity and neurodevelopmental impairment were all increased among infants diagnosed with NEC. Infants with surgical NEC and SIP had a higher incidence of death, but long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes were not different comparing surviving ELBW infants with medical NEC, surgical NEC and SIP.

Conclusion: Although ELBW infants comprise a very small proportion of live-born infants, those who develop NEC and SIP are at an increased risk for death, morbid complications of prematurity and neurodevelopmental impairment. No significant differences in neurodevelopmental outcomes were observed between the medical and surgical NEC and SIP groups.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow of no necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and NEC (medical NEC and surgical NEC) extremely low-birth-weight (ELBW) infants in the Cincinnati region with outcomes at newborn intensive care unit (NICU) discharge and with neurodevelopmental follow-up at 18 to 22 months corrected gestational age.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Guthrie SO, Gordon PV, Thomas V, Thorp JA, Peabody J, Clark RH. Necrotizing enterocolitis among neonates in the United States. J Perinatol. 2003;23(4):278–285. - PubMed
    1. Henry MC, Moss RL. Necrotizing enterocolitis. Annu Rev Med. 2009;60:111–124. - PubMed
    1. Fanaroff AA, Wright LL, Stevenson DK, Shankaran S, Donovan EF, Ehrenkranz RA, et al. Very-low-birth-weight outcomes of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network, May 1991 through December 1992. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1995;173(5):1423–1431. - PubMed
    1. Fanaroff AA, Stoll BJ, Wright LL, Carlo WA, Ehrenkranz RA, Stark AR, et al. Trends in neonatal morbidity and mortality for very low birthweight infants. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2007;196(2):147, e1–8. - PubMed
    1. Stoll BJ, Hansen NI, Bell EF, Shankaran S, Laptook AR, Walsh MC, et al. Neonatal outcomes of extremely preterm infants from the NICHD Neonatal Research Network. Pediatrics. 2010;126(3):443–456. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms