Reassuring Outcomes in Children with Asymptomatic Prenatal CMV Infection and Normal Hearing

Followed through 18 years, such children had no differences in IQ or language scores compared with uninfected controls.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common cause of congenital infection, yet most infants exposed to CMV in utero are asymptomatic at birth. To clarify the long-term developmental outcomes of congenital CMV infection, researchers identified infants through hospital-based CMV screening and conducted standardized tests of intelligence, language, and academic achievement at several timepoints from infancy to high school, comparing them to uninfected controls.

Among >32,000 neonates screened for CMV in one Texas hospital between 1982 and 1992, 135 (0.4%) tested positive for CMV; 92 (68%) of these infants had no symptoms (e.g., petechiae, liver function abnormalities, jaundice, microcephaly, or thrombocytopenia). Eleven asymptomatic newborns went …

Reviewing Author

Jenny Radesky, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardMelissa & Doug Toys (Consultant and Board of Directors)

Grant/Research SupportNational Institute for Child Health and Development; National Institutes of Health

Jenny Radesky, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardMelissa & Doug Toys (Consultant and Board of Directors)

Grant/Research SupportNational Institute for Child Health and Development; National Institutes of Health

Reassuring Outcomes in Children with Asymptomatic Prenatal CMV Infection and Normal Hearing

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Reviewing Author