Skip to main content
PMC home page
Archives of Disease in Childhood logoLink to Archives of Disease in Childhood
. 1984 Dec;59(12):1120–1126. doi: 10.1136/adc.59.12.1120

Congenital cytomegalovirus infection.

P M Preece, K N Pearl, C S Peckham
PMCID: PMC1628883  PMID: 6098225

Abstract

Clinical details of 50 infants with congenital cytomegalovirus infection identified in a prospective study are reported. The mean birthweight, gestational age, and head circumference of children with congenital cytomegalovirus infection were not significantly different from those of controls. Three (6%) had symptoms at birth--two neurological and one pneumonitis. In the first four months of life transient hepatosplenomegaly occurred in two infected children and six suffered interstitial pneumonitis. Three congenitally infected children have major neurological handicaps including spastic quadriplegia, microcephaly, and psychomotor delay, and five (10%), including the one with quadriplegia, have sensorineural deafness which is bilateral in three (6%). Estimates based on these findings suggest that the impact of congenital cytomegalovirus infection is comparable to that of congenital rubella in the era before vaccination. Of the 42 children where the nature of maternal infection was classifiable, congenital infection followed primary maternal infection in 32 (76%) and recurrent infection in 10 (24%). Neurological defects followed exposure to primary maternal infection in all three trimesters of pregnancy and also recurrent maternal infection.

Full text

PDF
1120

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Ahlfors K., Ivarsson S. A., Johnsson T., Svanberg L. Primary and secondary maternal cytomegalovirus infections and their relation to congenital infection. Analysis of maternal sera. Acta Paediatr Scand. 1982 Jan;71(1):109–113. doi: 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1982.tb09380.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Dahle A. J., McCollister F. P., Stagno S., Reynolds D. W., Hoffman H. E. Progressive hearing impairment in children with congenital cytomegalovirus infection. J Speech Hear Disord. 1979 May;44(2):220–229. doi: 10.1044/jshd.4402.220. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Griffiths P. D., Stagno S., Pass R. F., Smith R. J., Alford C. A., Jr Congenital cytomegalovirus infection: diagnostic and prognostic significance of the detection of specific immunoglobulin M antibodies in cord serum. Pediatrics. 1982 May;69(5):544–549. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Hanshaw J. B., Dudgeon J. A. Congenital cytomegalovirus. Major Probl Clin Pediatr. 1978;17:97–152. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Hanshaw J. B., Scheiner A. P., Moxley A. W., Gaev L., Abel V., Scheiner B. School failure and deafness after "silent" congenital cytomegalovirus infection. N Engl J Med. 1976 Aug 26;295(9):468–470. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197608262950902. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Kumar M. L., Nankervis G. A., Gold E. Inapparent congenital cytomegalovirus infection. A follow-up study. N Engl J Med. 1973 Jun 28;288(26):1370–1372. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197306282882603. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. MacDonald H., Tobin JO'H Congenital cytomegalovirus infection: a collaborative study on epidemiological, clinical and laboratory findings. Dev Med Child Neurol. 1978 Aug;20(4):471–482. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8749.1978.tb15248.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Peckham C. S., Chin K. S., Coleman J. C., Henderson K., Hurley R., Preece P. M. Cytomegalovirus infection in pregnancy: preliminary findings from a prospective study. Lancet. 1983 Jun 18;1(8338):1352–1355. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(83)92138-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Preece P. M., Blount J. M., Glover J., Fletcher G. M., Peckham C. S., Griffiths P. D. The consequences of primary cytomegalovirus infection in pregnancy. Arch Dis Child. 1983 Dec;58(12):970–975. doi: 10.1136/adc.58.12.970. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Reynolds D. W., Stagno S., Stubbs K. G., Dahle A. J., Livingston M. M., Saxon S. S., Alford C. A. Inapparent congenital cytomegalovirus infection with elevated cord IgM levels. Casual relation with auditory and mental deficiency. N Engl J Med. 1974 Feb 7;290(6):291–296. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197402072900601. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Saigal S., Lunyk O., Larke R. P., Chernesky M. A. The outcome in children with congenital cytomegalovirus infection. A longitudinal follow-up study. Am J Dis Child. 1982 Oct;136(10):896–901. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.1982.03970460026006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Stagno S., Brasfield D. M., Brown M. B., Cassell G. H., Pifer L. L., Whitley R. J., Tiller R. E. Infant pneumonitis associated with cytomegalovirus, Chlamydia, Pneumocystis, and Ureaplasma: a prospective study. Pediatrics. 1981 Sep;68(3):322–329. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Stagno S., Pass R. F., Alford C. A. Perinatal infections and maldevelopment. Birth Defects Orig Artic Ser. 1981;17(1):31–50. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Stagno S., Pass R. F., Dworsky M. E., Henderson R. E., Moore E. G., Walton P. D., Alford C. A. Congenital cytomegalovirus infection: The relative importance of primary and recurrent maternal infection. N Engl J Med. 1982 Apr 22;306(16):945–949. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198204223061601. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Starr J. G., Bart R. D., Jr, Gold E. Inapparent congenital cytomegalovirus infection. Clinical and epidemiologic characteristics in early infancy. N Engl J Med. 1970 May 7;282(19):1075–1078. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197005072821905. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Stern H. Cytomegalovirus infection in the neonate and its prevention. Postgrad Med J. 1977 Oct;53(624):588–591. doi: 10.1136/pgmj.53.624.588. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Williamson W. D., Desmond M. M., LaFevers N., Taber L. H., Catlin F. I., Weaver T. G. Symptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus. Disorders of language, learning, and hearing. Am J Dis Child. 1982 Oct;136(10):902–905. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.1982.03970460032007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Archives of Disease in Childhood are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES