title: Use of the cytomegalovirus (CMV) antigenemia assay for the rapid diagnosis of primary CMV infection in hospitalized adults.
abstract: We assessed the value of the cytomegalovirus (CMV) antigenemia assay for diagnosing primary CMV infection in adults. The CMV antigenemia assay was performed for 40 patients admitted to our unit over a 2-year period with unexplained fever and suspected primary CMV infection. Nine of the 10 patients with primary CMV infection had positive CMV antigenemia assays, and the results were available within 5 hours. All 10 patients had a mononucleosis-like syndrome. All but one of the 30 other patients had negative CMV antigenemia assays. A false-positive result was obtained for a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus. Overall, the CMV antigenemia assay was 90% sensitive and 96% specific for the diagnosis of primary CMV infection. Therefore, the CMV antigenemia assay appears to be a simple, rapid, inexpensive test for the diagnosis of primary CMV infection in hospitalized adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lesprit
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scieux
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lemann
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carbonelle
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Modaï
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Molina
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins; C065418:cytomegalovirus matrix protein 65kDa