Clinical characteristics, audiological and neurodevelopmental outcomes of newborns with congenital cytomegalovirus infection

BACKGROUND: Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infections are the leading nongenetic cause of congenital sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL); however the true impact of cCMV infections remains unknown. AIMS OF THE STUDY: (1) To identify the number of asymptomatic and symptomatic cCMV infections diagnosed between 1999 and 2014 at the Lausanne University Hospital; (2) to describe the audiological and neurodevelopmental outcomes of infants with cCMV infection; and (3) to compare clinical outcomes between infants born to mothers with primary versus nonprimary infection. METHODS: This was a single-centre, observational, exploratory, retrospective study of newborns diagnosed with cCMV infection at the Lausanne University Hospital between 1999 and 2014. RESULTS: Fifty newborns with cCMV infection were identified; 39 (78%) were symptomatic at birth, of whom 29 (74%) were neurologically symptomatic. Twelve children (24%) presented with subsequent abnormal audiological and/or neurodevelopmental outcomes. Newborns born to mothers with a nonprimary infection were more often symptomatic at birth than those born to mothers with a primary infection. CONCLUSIONS: All infants with subsequent SNHL or abnormal neurodevelopment were symptomatic at birth. Similar long-term neurodevelopmental and audiological outcomes were observed in infants born to mothers with a primary and nonprimary infection.