Permissions and Reprints Abstract

Objective Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) acquired postnatally can lead to hearing loss and adverse central nervous system (CNS) function, especially in the preterm neonate. We prospectively determined the prevalence of maternal serum CMV-immunoglobulin (IgG) and the incidence of cCMV at <34 weeks of gestation.

Study Design Study was conducted in the United States and India. Maternal blood was collected within 5 days after delivery. CMV-IgG antibodies were quantitated by an immunoassay. Baby's urine at birth was tested for CMV-DNA by the polymerase chain reaction.

Results In total, 65 women and 74 neonates were studied. In the United States, 6 out of 21 (76%), while in India, 42 out of 44 (96%) mothers were seropositive (combined 89%). In the United States, none of the neonates had CMV in the urine, while in India 4 out of 52 (7.7%) were positive (combined 5.4%)

Conclusion Mother's blood and baby's urine should be tested for serum CMV-IgG antibodies and CMV-DNA at delivery at <34-weeks of gestational age. Targeted screening will help in making an early diagnosis of cCMV, initiate therapy, and detect and treat early CNS problems including hearing loss.

Key Points

Maternal serum CMV screening after premature delivery at less than 34 weeks of gestation.

Neonatal urine CMV screening at less than 34 weeks of gestation.

Prematurity: importance of CMV during premature labor and delivery at less than 34 weeks.

Keywords maternal CMV-IgG antibody - premature neonate - congenital cytomegalovirus Authors' Contributions

U.P.D. and S.U.K. designed the study protocol. U.P.D. obtained the approval of the study from the Medical Board at CH, while S.U.K. obtained Institutional Review Board approval at DMH. U.P.D. was the principal investigator (PI) and D.A.B. was the nurse research coordinator at CH. S.U.K. was the PI and L.R. was the research coordinator for the entire study at DMH. Serum IgG measurements were performed in the clinical laboratory of DMH under the supervision of S.P. U.P.D. analyzed all the data and wrote the manuscript with input from S.U.K.

Publication History

Received: 17 May 2022

Accepted: 19 July 2022

Article published online:
19 October 2022

© 2022. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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