title: Initial Description of the Presumed Congenital Zika Syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To provide an initial description of the congenital syndrome presumably associated with infection by Zika virus compared with other syndromes including congenital infections of established etiologies.
  
  
  METHODS
  We provide an overview of a published case series of 35 cases, a clinical series of 104 cases, and published and unpublished reports of clinical and laboratory findings describing cases diagnosed since the beginning of the epidemic of microcephaly in Brazil.
  
  
  RESULTS
  About 60% to 70% of mothers report rash during pregnancy; mainly in the first trimester. Principal features are microcephaly, facial disproportionality, cutis girata, hypertonia/spasticity, hyperreflexia, and irritability; abnormal neuroimages include calcifications, ventriculomegaly, and lissencephaly. Hearing and visual abnormalities may be present.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Preliminary data suggest that severe congenital abnormalities are linked to Zika virus infection. Cases have severe abnormalities, and although sharing many characteristics with congenital abnormalities associated with other viral infections, abnormalities presumably linked to the Zika virus may have distinguishing characteristics. These severe neurologic abnormalities may result in marked mental retardation and motor disabilities for many surviving offspring.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Affected nations need to prepare to provide complex and costly multidisciplinary care that children diagnosed with this new congenital syndrome will require.
authors.affiliation: Demócrito de Barros Miranda-Filho, Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes, Maria Angela Wanderley Rocha, and Regina Coeli Ferreira Ramos are with the University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil. Celina Maria Turchi Martelli, Rafael Dhalia, Rafael Freitas de Oliveira França, and Ernesto T. A. Marques Júnior are with The Research Center Aggeu Magalhães (CPqAM)/Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Recife. Thalia Velho Barreto Araújo and Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes are with the Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife. Laura Cunha Rodrigues is with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: Demócrito de Barros
authors.initials: Dde B
authors.lastname: Miranda-Filho
authors.affiliation: Demócrito de Barros Miranda-Filho, Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes, Maria Angela Wanderley Rocha, and Regina Coeli Ferreira Ramos are with the University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil. Celina Maria Turchi Martelli, Rafael Dhalia, Rafael Freitas de Oliveira França, and Ernesto T. A. Marques Júnior are with The Research Center Aggeu Magalhães (CPqAM)/Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Recife. Thalia Velho Barreto Araújo and Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes are with the Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife. Laura Cunha Rodrigues is with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: Celina Maria Turchi
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Martelli
authors.affiliation: Demócrito de Barros Miranda-Filho, Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes, Maria Angela Wanderley Rocha, and Regina Coeli Ferreira Ramos are with the University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil. Celina Maria Turchi Martelli, Rafael Dhalia, Rafael Freitas de Oliveira França, and Ernesto T. A. Marques Júnior are with The Research Center Aggeu Magalhães (CPqAM)/Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Recife. Thalia Velho Barreto Araújo and Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes are with the Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife. Laura Cunha Rodrigues is with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: Ricardo Arraes de Alencar
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Ximenes
authors.affiliation: Demócrito de Barros Miranda-Filho, Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes, Maria Angela Wanderley Rocha, and Regina Coeli Ferreira Ramos are with the University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil. Celina Maria Turchi Martelli, Rafael Dhalia, Rafael Freitas de Oliveira França, and Ernesto T. A. Marques Júnior are with The Research Center Aggeu Magalhães (CPqAM)/Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Recife. Thalia Velho Barreto Araújo and Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes are with the Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife. Laura Cunha Rodrigues is with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: Thalia Velho Barreto
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Araújo
authors.affiliation: Demócrito de Barros Miranda-Filho, Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes, Maria Angela Wanderley Rocha, and Regina Coeli Ferreira Ramos are with the University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil. Celina Maria Turchi Martelli, Rafael Dhalia, Rafael Freitas de Oliveira França, and Ernesto T. A. Marques Júnior are with The Research Center Aggeu Magalhães (CPqAM)/Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Recife. Thalia Velho Barreto Araújo and Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes are with the Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife. Laura Cunha Rodrigues is with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: Maria Angela Wanderley
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.affiliation: Demócrito de Barros Miranda-Filho, Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes, Maria Angela Wanderley Rocha, and Regina Coeli Ferreira Ramos are with the University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil. Celina Maria Turchi Martelli, Rafael Dhalia, Rafael Freitas de Oliveira França, and Ernesto T. A. Marques Júnior are with The Research Center Aggeu Magalhães (CPqAM)/Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Recife. Thalia Velho Barreto Araújo and Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes are with the Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife. Laura Cunha Rodrigues is with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: Regina Coeli Ferreira
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.affiliation: Demócrito de Barros Miranda-Filho, Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes, Maria Angela Wanderley Rocha, and Regina Coeli Ferreira Ramos are with the University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil. Celina Maria Turchi Martelli, Rafael Dhalia, Rafael Freitas de Oliveira França, and Ernesto T. A. Marques Júnior are with The Research Center Aggeu Magalhães (CPqAM)/Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Recife. Thalia Velho Barreto Araújo and Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes are with the Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife. Laura Cunha Rodrigues is with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dhalia
authors.affiliation: Demócrito de Barros Miranda-Filho, Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes, Maria Angela Wanderley Rocha, and Regina Coeli Ferreira Ramos are with the University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil. Celina Maria Turchi Martelli, Rafael Dhalia, Rafael Freitas de Oliveira França, and Ernesto T. A. Marques Júnior are with The Research Center Aggeu Magalhães (CPqAM)/Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Recife. Thalia Velho Barreto Araújo and Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes are with the Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife. Laura Cunha Rodrigues is with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: Rafael Freitas de Oliveira
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: França
authors.affiliation: Demócrito de Barros Miranda-Filho, Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes, Maria Angela Wanderley Rocha, and Regina Coeli Ferreira Ramos are with the University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil. Celina Maria Turchi Martelli, Rafael Dhalia, Rafael Freitas de Oliveira França, and Ernesto T. A. Marques Júnior are with The Research Center Aggeu Magalhães (CPqAM)/Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Recife. Thalia Velho Barreto Araújo and Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes are with the Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife. Laura Cunha Rodrigues is with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: Ernesto Torres de Azevedo
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Marques Júnior
authors.affiliation: Demócrito de Barros Miranda-Filho, Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes, Maria Angela Wanderley Rocha, and Regina Coeli Ferreira Ramos are with the University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil. Celina Maria Turchi Martelli, Rafael Dhalia, Rafael Freitas de Oliveira França, and Ernesto T. A. Marques Júnior are with The Research Center Aggeu Magalhães (CPqAM)/Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Recife. Thalia Velho Barreto Araújo and Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes are with the Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife. Laura Cunha Rodrigues is with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: Laura Cunha
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D005076:Exanthema; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000209:etiology; D008831:Microcephaly / Q000209:etiology*; D059906:Neuroimaging; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious; D013577:Syndrome; D000071244:Zika Virus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000071243:Zika Virus Infection / Q000151:congenital* / Q000635:transmission