Journal List > Korean J Lab Med > v.29(6) > 1011598

Seo, Cho, and Park: Serologic Screening of Pregnant Korean Women for Primary Human Cytomegalovirus Infection Using IgG Avidity Test

Abstract

Background:

Primary human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection during pregnancy is a major cause of congenital malformation. We detected primary CMV infection in pregnant Korean women by using an algorithm that comprises CMV IgG, IgM, and IgG avidity tests.

Methods:

During a 2-month period, 744 pregnant women who were at 10-19 weeks of gestation were consecutively enrolled in this study. Human anti-CMV IgG and IgM levels in their sera were determined by chemiluminescence immunoassays. Serum samples from the women who were positive for CMV IgG and IgM were assayed by the ARCHITECT CMV IgG avidity test in order to distinguish primary from non-primary CMV infection. Gross examination of the neonates of the women who were positive for CMV IgM was conducted.

Results:

The seroprevalence of CMV IgG and IgM was estimated to be 98.1% and 1.7%, respectively. The samples from all the women who were positive for CMV IgM or with grey zone results contained high avidity CMV IgG. Seven women with positive CMV IgG and IgM results who completed follow-up up to delivery showed no gross evidence of in utero CMV transmission.

Conclusions:

Maternal primary CMV infection was not detected in any of the pregnant women included in this study cohort. CMV IgG avidity test enabled the identification of women who were at a low risk of transmitting CMV infection and provided informative for subsequent pregnancy outcomes. Compared to previous studies, the seroprevalence of CMV IgG antibody across pregnant Korean women remained unchanged.

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Fig. 1.
Distribution of cytomegalovirus IgG concentrations in pregnant women.
Abbreviation: AU, arbitrary units.
kjlm-29-557f1.tif
Fig. 2.
Distribution of signal to cutoff ratios on the cytomegalovirus IgM test in pregnant women.
kjlm-29-557f2.tif
Table 1.
Characteristics of the women with positive results both on cytomegalovirus IgG and IgM serological tests
Case no. Age (yr) Gestational age from LMP Body weight (kg) CMV IgG CMV IgM CMV IgG avidity Neonatal exam
Weeks Days AU/mL Interpretation Signal to cutoff ratio Interpretation % Interpretation
1 31 16 4 47.5 87.9 Positive 1.6 Positive 85.0 High Normal
2 37 17 2 58.2 >250.0 Positive 1.5 Positive 94.7 High Normal
3 27 17 2 54.0 92.4 Positive 1.1 Positive 88.5 High Normal
4 36 15 0 53.7 101.0 Positive 1.0 Grey zone 65.2 High Normal
5 39 17 0 52.4 247.4 Positive 0.9 Grey zone 81.2 High Normal
6 26 17 4 61.2 >250.0 Positive 1.9 Positive 97.7 High Not done
7 28 16 1 63.5 237.9 Positive 1.4 Positive 98.1 High Not done
8 34 16 1 48.0 184.6 Positive 0.9 Grey zone 91.3 High Normal
9 24 16 2 99.0 94.2 Positive 1.2 Positive 98.2 High Not done
10 33 16 3 44.1 >250.0 Positive 1.0 Positive 74.6 High Not done
11 26 16 2 59.3 167.0 Positive 1.0 Positive 90.0 High Not done
12 23 15 0 64.0 140.1 Positive 1.1 Positive 80.6 High Normal
13 28 15 3 79.0 >250.0 Positive 1.2 Positive Not done   Not done

Neonatal exam, gross examination at birth.

Abbreviations: LMP, last menstrual period; CMV, cytomegalovirus; AU, arbitrary units.

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