Abstract

INTRODUCTION
Cytomegalovirus is the most common cause of congenital infections in humans and it produces considerable morbidity in newborns.
AIMS
The present study reviews current concepts on epidemiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment, future strategies and prognosis of children with congenital cytomegalovirus infection.
RESULTS
Congenital cytomegalovirus infection can be symptomatic or not at birth, but about 10-20% of them all will exhibit neurological damage when followed up. Sensorineural hearing loss is the most frequent long-term consequence and is not manifest invariably at birth or in the neonatal period but in many cases becomes clinically apparent in later childhood. There are growing evidences that newborns with symptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus infection would benefit from treatment with either ganciclovir or valganciclovir, the most widely studied drugs in this setting. It is not yet clear if children with asymptomatic or pauci-symptomatic infection at birth would benefit from treatment.
DISCUSSION
Studies evaluating treatment and long-term follow-up of infants with both symptomatic and asymptomatic infection are necessary, in order to definitely evaluate the short and long-term effectiveness and safety of both ganciclovir and valganciclovir and to identify risk factors associated to the development of long-term sequelae. In this way it will be possible to select those children that might benefit for treatment.

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Authors

Buonsenso D, Serranti D, Gargiullo L, Ceccarelli M, Ranno O, Valentini P

Institution

Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.

Source

European review for medical and pharmacological sciences 16:7 2012 Jul pg 919-35

MeSH

Age Factors
Antiviral Agents
Asymptomatic Diseases
Cytomegalovirus
Cytomegalovirus Infections
Ganciclovir
Hearing Loss, Sensorineural
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Patient Selection
Risk Assessment
Risk Factors
Time Factors
Treatment Outcome

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Review

Language

eng

PubMed ID

22953641