title: Acute otitis media associated with cytomegalovirus infection in infants and children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Acute otitis media (AOM) is one of the most common complications of viral respiratory tract infections in children, but the role of each virus is still to be elucidated. We analyzed AOM associated with infection by cytomegalovirus (CMV), which is known as one of the major causes of viral respiratory tract infection.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four hundred and ninety-five children (292 boys and 203 girls) diagnosed as having AOM in 2002 were studied. All of the children were under 6 years old, with the average age being 1.31+/-1.36 years. Bacterial and viral culture of both nasopharyngeal secretions (NPS) and middle ear fluid (MEF) was performed in all 495 children. The levels of glutamyl pyruvic transaminase (GPT) and the serum IgM antibody for CMV were measured. CMV infection was defined on the basis of isolation of this virus by culture and/or positive anti-CMV IgM antibody. NPS and MEF specimens of the subjects diagnosed as having CMV infection were tested for the virus by nested PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twelve of the 495 children were found to have CMV infection. They included 6 boys and 6 girls aged from 3 to 25 months, with the average age being 11+/-7 months. Among 10 children in whom CMV infection was diagnosed by viral culture, CMV was isolated from NPS alone in nine cases and from both NPS and MEF in one case. Nested PCR was performed in all 12 subjects diagnosed as having CMV infection, and all NPS samples were positive, as were 8 MEF samples. We obtained serum samples from 205 children under 2 years of age, including 9 with CMV infection. The mean serum GPT level of 124 children in whom no viruses were detected was 20.7+/-14.4 IU/L. While, the serum GPT levels of 9 children with CMV infection ranged from 10 to 280 IU/L with the average titer being 78.4+/-81.9 IU/L, and the GPT levels of the children with CMV infection were significantly higher than those of the children in whom no viruses were detected (p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggested that CMV is a causative pathogen of AOM, and that CMV infection should be suspected in patients with AOM and liver dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Virus Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Sendai Medical Center, Miyagino-ku, Sendai 983-8520, Japan. yanohisa@snh.go.jp
authors.forename: Hisakazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yano
authors.forename: Naohiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Okitsu
authors.forename: Oshi
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kisu
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hori
authors.forename: Etsuko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hatagishi
authors.forename: Michiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ohmi
authors.forename: Ken-ichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Shun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sagai
authors.forename: Mitsuko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suetake
authors.forename: Toshimitsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Hidekazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nishimura
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000235:genetics; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000276:immunology; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000382:microbiology; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D000410:Alanine Transaminase