title: Congenital cytomegalovirus infection diagnosed by polymerase chain reaction with the use of preserved umbilical cord in sensorineural hearing loss children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is estimated to account for 30% of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) cases. Differences in clinical characteristics between CMV-related and unrelated SNHL cases were scrutinized.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using dried umbilical cord, we have recently developed a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assay for the retrospective detection of congenital CMV infection. Medical records of 7 CMV-related patients identified from 31 SNHL patients by the assay were evaluated for the following: type and degree of hearing impairment, computed tomographic scan results, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, autism, and other multiple disorders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Clinical characteristics of the seven CMV-related SNHL cases were as follows: 1) six of the seven exhibited severe bilateral SNHL, whereas one had severe unilateral SNHL in the right ear. Although the hearing levels of CMV-related patients were more greatly impaired than those of CMV-negative patients, there was no hearing impairment pattern specific to the CMV-related patients; 2) five patients had mental retardation, which was more frequent than in CMV-negative patients; 3) birth weights of the CMV-positive cases were relatively lower.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although CMV-positive cases are clinically indistinguishable from CMV-negative cases, our PCR system allowed the retrospective diagnosis of CMV-related SNHL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CMV-related SNHL tends to accompany mental retardation and low birth weight more frequently than does CMV-negative SNHL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan. hmmjs@fmu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.forename: Tatsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzutani
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Eiko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fukushima
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Omori
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001724:Birth Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000151:congenital* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D014470:Umbilical Cord