Severe anemia significantly increases the rate of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in infants with very low-birth-weight (VLBW), new research shows.
Ravi M. Patel, MD, MSc, and his team of researchers at Emory University School of Medicine, in Atlanta, studied the potential relationship between NEC and VLBW infants who had red blood cell transfusions and severe anemia. They found that severe anemia was a greater risk factor for NEC than for those who did not have severe anemia (adjusted