Abstract 1087 Poster Session II, Sunday, 5/2 (poster 57)

Approximately 5% to 10% of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants develop necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), but the impact of this disease on length of stay and cost is not known. We hypothesized that babies who developed NEC would incur more morbidity and have longer lengths of stay than babies who did not develop NEC. We performed a case-control analysis by identifying 86 babies who were born at Ben Taub General Hospital and Texas Children's Hospital with birthweights less than 1500 g from Jan. 1992 to Dec. 1994 who developed NEC (Bell's stage 1b or greater). Each case was matched to two controls by hospital of birth, gestational age, and month of birth. Among all infants, babies with NEC compared to controls had an increased risk for death, sepsis, and placement of a central line, but no greater risk for developing chronic lung disease, intraventricular hemorrhage, or retinopathy of prematurity: (Table)

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