Congenital stridor induced by cytomegalovirus infection

Abstract

When a pregnant woman who does not have the cytomegalovirus (CMV) antibody is infected with CMV for the first time, the risk of congenital CMV (CCMV) infection of the fetus is increased. It has been demonstrated that many asymptomatic children with CCMV infection remain undiagnosed. In Japan, the umbilical cord is kept at home as a symbol of the motherchild bond, and it has been reported that CMV DNA can be detected from the umbilical cord very efficiently. As CMV DNA has never been detected in umbilical cord samples taken from noninfected healthy newborns, 1 it should be possible to use preserved umbilical cords for the retrospective diagnosis of CCMV infection. Morisawa et al. demonstrated that primary CMV infection was found more often in the wheezers than in the controls, 2 however, the frequency of CCMV infection-associated congenital stridor has never been studied.