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Necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) is a leading cause of death and disability in preterm newborns. Early diagnosis through non-invasive investigations is a crucial strategy that can significantly improve outcomes. Hence, this review gives particular attention to the emerging role of abdominal ultrasound (AUS) in the early diagnosis of NEC, its performance against abdominal radiograph and the benefits of AUS use in daily practice. AUS has been used in the diagnosis and management of NEC for a couple of decades. However, its first-line use has been minimal, despite growing evidence demonstrating AUS can be a critical tool in the early diagnosis and management of NEC. In 2018, the NEC group of the International Neonatal Consortium recommended using AUS to detect pneumatosis and/or portal air in preterm NEC as part of the ‘Two out of three’ model. To facilitate widespread adoption, and future improvement in practice and outcomes, collaboration between neonatologists, surgeons and radiologists is needed to generate standard operating procedures and indications for use for AUS. The pace and scale of the benefit generated by use of AUS can be amplified through use of computer-aided detection and artificial intelligence.

Abbasi raises the important issue of conscience and duty for scientific advisers in the covid-19 pandemic.1 We expect all people in public office to abide by the Nolan principles,2 but time and again, we have found many falling short. The yardstick is even more stringent for scientific and medical advisers, who …

Background: Premature infants are vulnerable to complications related to oxidative stress. Exposure to light increases oxidation products in solutions of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) such as lipid peroxides and hydrogen peroxide. Oxidative stress impairs glucose uptake and affects lipid metabolism. Hypothesis: products of photo-oxidation contaminating TPN affect lipid metabolism. Objective: Evaluate the effect of photoprotection of TPN in preterm infants on plasma glucose and triglyceride (TG) concentrations. Design: Secondary analysis of a prospective study allocating preterm infants to light-exposed (LE, n = 32) or light-protected (LP, n = 27) TPN. Setting: Level III NICU referral centre for patients of British Columbia. Patients: Preterm infants requiring TPN. Interventions and outcome measures: TG and blood glucose measured during routine monitoring while on full TPN were compared between LE and LP. Results: Clinical characteristics were similar between the two groups (gestational age 28±1 wk; birth weight: 1.0±0.1 kg). Nutrient intakes from TPN and from minimal enteral nutrition were comparable between LE and LP. Blood glucose was higher in preterm infants receiving LE (p