ABSTRACT
Advances in neonatal intensive care have lowered the limits o f viability to as low as 22 weeks gestational age.1 Great progress has been made in respiratory support with the use o f surfactant, high frequency ventilation, and steroid administration. Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a disease associated with prematurity, and its preva lence has been increasing with advances in neonatal respiratory care. Survival o f the extremely premature and small infant remains tenuous, however, with N E C claiming a significant mortality. Indeed, with continued advances in neonatal respiratory care, N E C may soon surpass chronic lung disease as the main morbidity and mortality o f the premature infant.
