Editorial
Bernhard Resch\r\n
Abstract
Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is the most\r\nfrequently identified viral cause of mental retardation and is the\r\nleading non-genetic cause of neurosensory hearing loss in developed\r\ncountries, and is the most common congenital infection in human\r\nbeings, with approximately 1% of all infants born alive in the United\r\nStates being infected with CMV Infants with symptomatic\r\nCMV infection with observations at birth including petechiae,\r\nhepatosplenomegaly, microcephaly, thrombocytopenia, or jaundice\r\nwith conjugated hyperbilirubinemia showed in 70% of cases abnormal\r\ncomputed tomographic (CT) scans with intracerebral calcification\r\nbeing the most frequent finding, and again 90% of the children\r\nwith an abnormal newborn CT scan developed at least one sequela\r\n[4]. In addition, almost half of the children with CT abnormalities\r\nhad an IQ <50 compared with none of those with a normal CT. Of\r\ninfected fetuses, approximately 10% are symptomatic at birth, and\r\n90% of symptomatic survivors have significant neurologic sequelae,\r\nincluding hearing deficits in 30% to 65%\r\n