Examination of head magnetic resonance imaging in patients with congenital cytomegalovirus infection diagnosed by newborn urine screening

Abstract

The association between abnormal patterns of head magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in newborns with congenital cytomegalovirus infection (cCMV) and their neurological outcomes has not been fully elucidated. Of the 60 patients who were diagnosed with cCMV by newborn urine screening, 52, who underwent head MRI, were enrolled in this study. Forty-three (82.6%) of these patients showed abnormalities in either the first or second MRI examinations. In these 43 patients, white matter abnormality (WMA) was confirmed. In addition to WMA, polymicrogyria, ventriculomegaly, and hippocampal dysplasia were observed in 3 of these patients who had serious neurological complications such as intellectual disability, hemiplegia and sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). On the other hand, there was no significant association between the severity of SNHL and MRI findings. However, interestingly, WMA occurred at a high rate (29 of 37 patients, 78%) among patients, even after about one and a half years; therefore, future studies on this topic are warranted, in order to clarify the clinical significance of WMA.