Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection in Pregnancy - An Overview of The Fetal Abnormalities Detected by Ultrasound

Abstract

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a DNA virus, which affects all ages individuals. During the intrauterine life, CMV can affect the foetus and can produce severe morphological abnormalities, especially in the brain structure, leading to various neurosensorial deficiencies after birth. This study aims to demonstrate the utility of ultrasonography in identifying and establishing the long-term prognosis of the foetuses with CMV congenital infection. After a systematic review of the last 10 years literature, fifteen articles were considered from the databases for this study. The most frequently detected abnormalities are represented by periventricular cerebral calcifications, ventricular dilatations, cerebellar hypoplasia, leukomalacia, microcephaly, foetal ascites, ventricular septal defects, intrauterine growth restriction, oligoamnios or anamnios. These pathological aspects could influence the evolution of the foetuses, their long-term development and could also produce intrauterine death of the foetus. Also, the addition of MRI increases the power of ultrasound for the diagnosis of cerebral damages. These techniques could be complementary, but they should not exclude each other in exposed foetuses.