OBJECTIVE: Prenatal diagnosis has a critical role in the management of pregnancy complicated by CMV infection. The identification of reliable prognostic markers of fetal disease remains the main purpose and a major challenge on this issue. Design: In this study, we investigated the prevalence and clinical consequences of CMV infection from cervicovaginal smear and amniotic fluid samples of pregnant women by using RT-PCR assay. Setting: The study was performed in Gazi University, Faculty of Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology outpatient clinic. Patients: Two hundred and six samples, of which 135 was cervicovaginal smear and 71 was amniotic fluid, were enrolled in the study. Main outcome measures: Clinical outcomes of CMV RT-PCR positive pregnancies and reliability of RT-PCR assay in prenatal diagnosis of this infection. RESULTS: CMV DNA was found to be positive in 1.5% (2 in 135) of cervicovaginal smear and 1.4% (1 in 71) of amniotic fluid samples by RT-PCR. IgM and IgG were found to be negative in all of the cervicovaginal smear samples by both MEIA and ELISA, while IgG antibody was found to be positive in only one of the amniotic fluid samples by MEIA. CONCLUSIONS: The fact that, the clinical consequence of the newborn whose amniotic fluid evaluation revealed CMV infection by RT-PCR made us think that this molecular diagnosis method may be a reliable assay in prenatal diagnosis of this pathogen.
Keywords: CMV, intrauterine infections, real time PCR (RT-PCR)