Is Monitoring of Cytomegalovirus Disease Required in Nontransplant Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia?

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections in developing countries are experienced at an early age. This study was performed to investigate the frequency of reactivation and risk factors of infection acquired at an early age of nontransplant acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy with weekly monitoring of CMV levels in Turkey.

This was a retrospective, single-center study of 172 pediatric patients (102 boys and 70 girls) with ALL. All patients were monitored routinely for CMV-DNA at the initial presentation of leukemia and twice a week during chemotherapy. The CMV immunoglobulin (Ig)M/IgG titers were measured at admission.

CMV seropositivity at baseline was 90,11%. The overall prevalence of CMV infection (viremia) was 70.34%, 116 of whom were seropositive for CMV IgG and 5 of whom were negative for CMV at the time of ALL diagnosis. Reactivation was more common than de novo CMV infections (P=0.000). CMV seropositivity at the beginning of the leukemia diagnosis was found to be an independent predictor for developing CMV infection (P=0.001). A total of 60 CMV infection episodes were treated with antivirals. Four of these included organ involvement. The duration of CMV-DNA viremia episodes was longer in patients with CMV-DNA ≥1000 copies/mL (n=45) than in those with lower CMV-DNA levels (P=0.002). Infection was shown not to be associated with chemotherapy phase.

This study suggests the importance of monitoring for CMV infections in developing countries because of frequent reactivations in seropositive ALL patients. It should be kept in mind that low CMV-DNA levels may also lead to organ involvement.