Pediatrics in Review
HOME HELP CONTACT US SUBSCRIPTIONS CME ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Take the CME quiz:
 Vol. 28 No. 3, March 2007
Right arrow Rapid Responses: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when Rapid Responses are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Adler, S. P.
Right arrow Articles by Marshall, B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Adler, S. P.
Right arrow Articles by Marshall, B.

(Pediatrics in Review. 2007;28:92-100.)
© 2007 American Academy of Pediatrics

Cytomegalovirus Infections


Stuart P. Adler, MD*
Beth Marshall, MD*
 * Department of Pediatrics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Medical College of Virginia Campus, Richmond, Va

The first 300 words of the full text of this article appear below.


   Objectives
 
After completing this article, readers should be able to:

  1. Discuss the risk factors for a mother acquiring a cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection during pregnancy.
  2. Diagnose a primary CMV infection in pregnant women and healthy people.
  3. Describe the fetal and newborn physical findings suggestive of a congenital CMV infection.
  4. List the criteria for the diagnosis of CMV disease in immunocompromised patients.
  5. Delineate the therapies most likely to be effective for treating CMV infections in pregnant women, newborns, and immunocompromised patients.


   Introduction
 
Cytomegalovirus (CMV), a member of the herpesvirus family, has the largest genome of all the viruses that infect humans. Because the genome contains about 230 kb of double-stranded DNA and encodes for more than 100 proteins, it is difficult to determine how CMV infection occurs. CMV has adapted to the human immune system and spreads among humans via viral excretion in nearly all body fluids, including urine, saliva, and semen. In most CMV infections, there is no apparent impact on the immune system, and most infected people are disease-free. Disease associated with CMV infection generally occurs when the immune system is compromised, as in patients who have human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection or who have received organ transplants. Recent observations suggest that CMV disease associated with congenital infection may be due partly to placental dysfunction caused by CMV infection of the placenta.


   Virus and Transmission
 
CMV viral particles are structurally similar to other human herpesviruses. The virus has a 65-nm inner core containing the viral DNA. The inner core is within an icosahedral protein capsid comprised of 162 capsomeres. This structure is surrounded by a tegument layer and an outer enveloped membrane containing glycoproteins. The envelope glycoproteins are antigenic and responsible for triggering an immune response. Most of the neutralizing antibodies induced by CMV antigens are directed against the major CMV glycoprotein gB, although other . . . [Full Text of this Article]






HOME HELP CONTACT US SUBSCRIPTIONS CME ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pediatrics Pediatrics in Review
Copyright © 2007 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.