Sequential assay of expired breath hydrogen as a means of predicting necrotizing enterocolitis in susceptible infants.

Breath hydrogen levels were investigated prospectively from birth, in a population of neonates at risk of developing NEC. This was standardized to the quantity of carbohydrate in the feed. Children who developed NEC, confirmed radiologically, were compared with matched controls. There was a significant increase in breath hydrogen, in the 24 hours prior to the onset of disease, in index cases as compared with controls. This test may be effective in discriminating between those children who are going to develop NEC and those in whom feeding can be continued safely.