Retrospective diagnosis of congenital cytomegalovirus infection using umbilical cord

Approximately 90% of infants congenitally infected with cytomegalovirus are asymptomatic at birth, but a number of them later develop central nervous system disorders. However, diagnosis of congenital infection with virologic or serologic evidence had been almost impossible beyond the neonatal period. Recently, dried blood spots on Guthrie cards have been demonstrated to be useful for retrospective diagnosis of congenital cytomegalovirus infection; however, they are usually stored for only 1 year. In Japan, the umbilical cord is kept clean and dry as a symbol of the mother-to-child bond, and in recent studies, cytomegalovirus deoxyribonucleic acid was successfully detected from dried umbilical cord of two 1-year-old children who were clinically suspected of having had congenital cytomegalovirus infection. This report describes a 4-year-old male with various central nervous system disorders who was diagnosed with congenital cytomegalovirus infection by detecting cytomegalovirus deoxyribonucleic acid from dried umbilical cord.