Cytomegalic Inclusion Disease

Abstract

Cytomegalic inclusion disease is a multisystem virus disease which is typified pathologically by an inclusion-cointaining giant cell that appears predominantly in epithelial linings of visceral and cerebral epithelium. It occurs most commonly in the newborn but may involve any age group and generally runs a fatal course. Until recently it has been recognized only at autopsy. Descriptions of this disorder date back as far as 1904, but not until recent years has it evolved as a disease entity of clinical importance.* In infants its time of onset is somewhat variable, which suggests that it may be contracted either in utero or postnatally. Wyatt and co-workers, in summarizing 66 cases, reported 5 in stillborn babies, 10 in newborns, and the majority of the remainder in infants under 12 months of age.³ Since this is a multisystem disease in which no one system is always involved, the clinical characteristics are somewhat