Newer monitoring techniques to determine the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis

Abstract

Necrotizing enterocolitis affects up to 10% of neonates who are born weighing less than 1500 g. It has a high rate of morbidity and mortality, and predicting infants who will be affected has so far been unsuccessful. In this article, a number of new methods are discussed from the literature to determine if any currently available techniques may allow for the identification of patients who are at increased risk for developing this potentially lethal disease.