title: Hirschsprung's disease: a viral etiology?
abstract: This study investigates the hypothesis that Hirschsprung's disease (HD), congenital rectal aganglionosis, may be etiologically linked to antenatal cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. Bowel specimens from 72 HD patients, 144 control I infants (Hirschsprung-like symptoms, normal histology), and 36 control II infants (deaths from nongastrointestinal causes) were analyzed for CMV genomes by polymerase chain reaction. Positive results were obtained in 6 HD patients (8.8%) and none of the controls. Our findings suggest that antenatal CMV infection, a potentially preventable condition, may be one of the etiological factors in HD.
authors.affiliation: Nuffield Department of Surgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Tam
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Quint
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: van Velzen
mesh_terms: D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006627:Hirschsprung Disease / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction