Abstract
Purpose: Little is known about maternal factors behind developing NEC and histopathologic examination of placentas in infants who develop necrotizing enterocolitis has not been reported. So we investigated maternal factors and histopathological placental findings in infants with necrotizing enterocolitis. Among 111 extremely low birth weight infants born at our hospital from 2000 to 2008, six infants developed necrotizing enterocolitis. We compared the maternal factors and histological placental findings to the control group (n=105). Results: In the necrotizing enterocolitis group, the presence of placental chorioamnionitis was significantly higher than that in the control group (83.4% vs. 38.1% p=0.039). They were significantly more likely to have received antibiotics on the day before delivery (100% vs. 53.3% p=0.03) and the serum CRP level of the necrotizing enterocolitis group was significantly higher than that of the control group (3.24±2.32 vs. 1.26±1.67mg/dl p=0.0067). Conclusion: Necrotizing enterocolitis in the extremely low birth weight infant could be a neonatal disease associated with placental inflammation. So careful observation is necessary for extremely low birth weight infants with severe placental inflammation.
