GUTHRIE CARDS AND CONGENITAL CYTOMEGALOVIRUS (CMV) 1NFECTION DIAGNOS1S

Cytomegalovirus is the commonest virai agent of congenita! infection in man. An accurate estirpare of the prevalente of damgenital CMV infection and the propor management of the infected children rely on accurate, easy and widely available medio& of diagnosis. We tested a method for CMV DNA extraction from dried blood samples (DBS) on Guthrie cards followed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification as an alternative to the laborious virus isolation in celi culture. The products of a nested PCR amplifying a regimi in the gp58 gene of the CMV genome were detected by agarose gel electrophoresis. The procedure was evaluated in 26 newboms with a cliagnosis of congenita! infection based onCMV isolation at birth and 214 control infants not infected (n=188) or with presumed postone' infection (n=26). DBS from all the congenitally infected babies and from 11 CMV isolatiti. negative babies were positive. Five of the cases of supposed portaste" infection were diagnosed as congenita' on the besis of a positive DBS. We propose this method as a valid procedure to diagnosi congenita' CMV infection at birth and also late.