Klin Onkol 1999; 12(6): 206-210.
< b>Summary: Human Cytomegalovirus Infection in Children with Cancer: From Serology to Viral DNA Detectíon. Background: Cytomegaloviral infection is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in children treated for cancer. Recently, rapid and highly sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been used in the diagnostics of such infections. Design and subjects: A group of 186 children with leukemia, solid tumors, lymphoma or histiocytosis were tested serologically (CMV-IgG, IgM) and 70 of them were tested for CMV DNA in blood, both semiquantitatively. Methods and results: significant difference in seropositivity was found between healthy controls and cancer patients at the beginning of treatment.. At the end of anticancer treatment, the seropositivity of cancer patients was significantly higher than in healthy controls (p < 0,01), suggest in high rate of CMV infection during anticancer treatment. The results of PCR detection of CMV (with 98.4% sensitivity) correlates with clinical symptoms of infection. All symptomatic patients (18/18) and only one of 62 healthy controls were PCR positive. Furthermore, the PCR positivity was detected 1-5 weeks before detection of seroconversion. Conclusions: Detection of CMV DNA by PCR improves the diagnosis of complications of unknown origin in children with cancer and offers the possibility of their treatment
