Necrotizing enterocolitis and hyperviscosity in the newborn infant.

During a one-year prospective survey to determine the incidence of hyperviscosity in small-for-gestational age infants, we found a significant increase in the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis in SGA infants with HV. Of the 14 SGA infants with HV, five developed NEC, and of 65 SGA infants with normal blood viscosity,one had NEC (p less than 0.005). Comparison of clinical features of the five HV infants with NEC with those reported in the literature showed that the infants with HV and NEC had had longer gestational periods and higher weights and, in contrast to those reported in the literature, were free of clinical evidence of asphyxia distress. The respiratory disorders have been proposed as the clinical events that might lead to ischemia of the intestine and subsequently to NEC. It is proposed that HV may be another factor leading to ischemia in the gastrointestinal tract with subsequent development of NEC.