Clinical features of the TORCH syndrome in newborns with congenital cytomegalovirus infection depending on birth body weight

Abstract

Objective: to study the clinical features of TORCH syndrome in newborns with congenital cytomegalovirus infection depending on body weight at birthCharacteristics of children and research methods. The study included 70 patients (43 premature, 27 full-term) with with congenital acute cytomegalovirus infection, manifested form. Patient characteristics: Group 1: 21 premature children with extremely and very low body weight at birth; Group 2: 22 premature children with very low body weight; Group 3: 27 full-term children with body weight more than 2,500 g. The congenital cytomegalovirus infection was diagnosed on the presence of TORCH syndrome and etiological verification in the first 3 weeks of life.Results. The authors found that children with extremely and very low body weight significantly more often (p<0.05) had hydrocephalus and interstitial pneumonia than children with low body weight. The full-term patients weighing more than 2,500 g suffered from hemolytic anemia, brain calcifications and congenital heart defects (p<0.05) statistically significantly more often than preterm patients. Reduced duration of pregnancy in preterm labor contributes to the rare occurrence of hemolytic anemia and calcifications in the brain of premature babies. Periventricular localization of calcifications is characteristic of full-term infants. It is necessary to exclude congenital cytomegalovirus infection in newborns with congenital heart defects and other clinical manifestations of TORCH syndrome.Conclusion. The results of the study can be used to diagnose cytomegalovirus infection in children, depending on the birth weight.