Ganciclovir, a synthetic acyclic nucleotide analog of guanine, is phosphorylated to a triphosphate within the cell and acts as an inhibitor of viral DNA synthesis. Preliminary data have shown ganciclovir effective in the treatment of symptomatic congenital CMV infection. A phase II study with ganciclovir showed hearing improvement or stabilization in five of 30 infants [...]

CMV infection can be diagnosed by isolation of the virus from the urine or saliva within the first three weeks of life. This can be accomplished by traditional virus culture methods which may take one to two weeks to obtain a result or rapid culture methods (”shell vial assay”) using centrifugation to enhance infectivity and [...]

CMV is the largest and most complex member of the Herpesviridae family of DNA viruses. The genome is composed of a linear double-stranded DNA, approximately 240 kilobases in size (150xl0 daltons), and is capable of isomer-ization. The genome has been completely sequenced and shown to contain non-overlapping open-reading frames for more than 200 potentially immunologic [...]

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is the most frequent congenital infection worldwide and is diverse in its clinical manifestations. The fetus can be infected by either a newly acquired (primary) maternal infection or a recurrent (reactivated) maternal infection. The likelihood of fetal infection and the risk of associated damage and sequelae is higher after a primary infection. [...]