title: Seroprevalence and Seroconversion Rates of Cytomegalovirus pp65 Antigen and Cord Blood Screening of Pregnant Women in Malatya, Turkey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The rates of seropositivity, seroconversion and fetal infection with human cytomegalovirus were analyzed in pregnant women and newborn cord blood in this study. The relationships between maternal age, parity, cytomegalovirus serology and polymerase chain reaction results were evaluated.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 217 pregnant women attended our pregnancy clinic between April 2004 and October 2005. During each trimester, 5 cc of maternal blood was obtained and 5 cc of cord blood was collected after birth. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to assess these samples for the presence of human cytomegalovirus protein pp65 antigen (in leukocytes) and cytomegalovirus DNA (in plasma).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of the pregnant women in our study was 28.1±5.3 years. No seroconversion was observed. Among the pregnant women, 212 (97.7%) were IgG positive, and 29 (13.4%) were IgM positive. Five of the pregnant women were positive for IgM alone (2.3%), whereas 24 (11.3%) were positive for both IgM and IgG. The 29 IgM-positive patients were reevaluated using the polymerase chain reaction, and no seropositivity was found. None of the cord blood samples were IgM positive, whereas 211 (97.3%) were IgG positive. There was no significant correlation between parity and seropositivity (p=0.487). The relationship between human cytomegalovirus seropositivity and maternal age was evaluated by dividing the pregnant women into two groups, with a cut-off age of 35 years. There was a significant difference in seropositivity between these two groups (p=0.045).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Clearly, there is no need to screen pregnant women for Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in the Malatya region. Confirming serology results using the polymerase chain reaction and antigenemia testing to detect false positive results offers the advantage of avoiding unnecessary invasive interventions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bakirkoy Dr Sadi Konuk Teaching and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Keziban
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dogan
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Özel Erdem Hastanesi, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayse
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kafkasli
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bakirkoy Dr Sadi Konuk Teaching and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Cihan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kaya
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bakirkoy Dr Sadi Konuk Teaching and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Huseyin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cengiz
keywords: Cord blood; cytomegalovirus; cytomegalovirus pp65 antigen; polymerase chain reaction; pregnancy