Reply to Drs Skerritt, Modi and Clarke

We greatly appreciate the letter from Drs Skerritt, Modi and Clarke, because the most important goal of our review1 was to stimulate dialogue across disciplines. It is obvious that two pediatric surgeons and a neonatologist did exactly that in drafting their letter. We are also gratified to learn that our arguments favoring the necessity of an alternative to Bell's staging was well received. Hopefully this exchange is the beginning of a cordial and constructive debate that will reverberate throughout the neonatal and pediatric surgery communities over the next couple of years.