Background: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is the most common gastrointestinal (GI) medical and surgical emergency occurring in neonates. It is an acute inflammatory disease with a multifactorial etiology; the condition is characterized by variable damage to the intestinal tract ranging from mucosal injury to full- thickness necrosis and perforation.
Objective: Our work aimed to detect the role of I-FABP in plasma in early diagnosis of NEC and prediction of severity of NEC among neonates at neonatal intensive care units, children's hospital, Zagazig University. Patients and Methods: About 160 preterm neonates aging less than 35 weeks and weighing less than 2500 gm were included in this study to evaluate which of them will develop NEC, after follow up 24 of them developed NEC and still alive until the last samples were obtained from them. These neonates were diagnosed and classified according to Later Modified Bell's Staging for NEC.
Results: I-FABP level was highly increased in more complicated cases. We can predict NEC by the cut of value of IFABP ≥3.2 ng\ml with sensitivity 95.8%, specificity 95.8% at 1st 24 hours, and at diagnosis by ≥9.2 ng\ml with sensitivity 95.8%, specificity100%, and accuracy 0.99%.
Conclusion: Serum IFABP can serve as a serological biomarker for early diagnosis of NEC for premature neonates with high accuracy and can predict the severity of the disease.