Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection in Pregnancy and the Neonate: Prevention, Diagnosis, and Therapy
A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Obstetrics & Gynecology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2021) | Viewed by 391
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a common prenatal viral infection affecting 0.3–2% of live born infants. Fetal infection may follow either maternal primary infection during pregnancy or maternal secondary infection with the reactivation of a latent virus or reinfection. The rate of fetal infections is approximately 30% after primary infection and around 3% after secondary infection. The diagnosis of primary CMV infection in pregnancy is established after documentation of seroconversion by the new appearance of CMV-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies in the presence of low avidity. Universal screening for CMV infection is the most reliable method to detect primary infection, however it is considered to be controversial. A new study assessing preventive therapy highlights the issue of effective screening before and during pregnancy.
The consequence of intrauterine CMV infection ranges from no adverse short- and long-term effects to serious congenital malformations, neurodevelopmental delay and sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). The timing of infection affects the rate of vertical transmission, approximately 30% in the first trimester to up to 70% in the third trimester 6–9.
The detection of a fetus that will develop severe neurological impairment is of the outmost importance. Serial antenatal ultrasound (US) and third trimester-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are the two modalities used to identify lesions that carry a poor prognosis. Approaches to minimize vertical transmission of CMV infection and to treat CMV infection are being studied. These include CMV hyperimmune globulin (HIG) and the use of in utero treatment with antiviral therapy.
Prof. Dr. Boaz Weisz
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- CMV
- fetal neurosonography
- MRI
