Affiliations: [a] Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Maggiore Hospital, Bologna, Italy
| [b]
Second University of Naples, Italy
| [c] Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Maggiore Hospital, Bologna, Italy
| [d] Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Maggiore Hospital, Bologna, Italy
Correspondence:
[*]
Address for correspondence: Matilde Ciccia, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Maggiore Hospital, Bologna, Italy. Tel.: +0039 051 3172424; Fax: +0039 051 3172419; E-mail: matilde.ciccia@ausl.bologna.it.
Abstract: Around 90% of congenital cytomegalovirus infected neonates are asymptomatic at birth. Among the infected infants showing no clinical abnormalities, 7 to 15% or over may develop sensorineural hearing loss and only about 50% of these cases are detectable at birth. In 2013, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Maggiore Hospital in Bologna (Italy) introduced a one-page flow chart aimed at identifying neonates with unapparent congenital cytomegalovirus infection by means of selective cytomegalovirus screening of patients who failed to pass a hearing screening test. Since its introduction, 83 infants have been referred to our clinic for sample collection and two cases of congenital cytomegalovirus-related sensorineural hearing loss were diagnosed and treated at the appropriate time.
Keywords: Cytomegalovirus, congenital infection, targeted screening, sensorineural hearing loss
