Cytomegalovirus-associated Ménétrier's disease in adults. Demonstration by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

Ménétrier's disease (MD) is a rare form of hypertrophic or hyperplastic gastropathy characterized by conspicuous thickening of the gastric mucosal folds and foveolar (crypt) hyperplasia. We examined the presence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) in 2 cases of MD in adults, one associated with gastric carcinoma, using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). None of the cases showed intranuclear inclusions consistent with CMV infection. Both revealed, besides the features of MD, a peculiar pattern of "chronic active plasmacellular gastritis". Although the samples had been stored in formalin for more than 10 years CMV-DNA was recovered with good yield from both samples. The demonstration of CMV in MD in adults may helps to explain present knowledge of the complex relationships between this virus and gastric mucosa, and strongly suggests a pathogenetic role of the virus with variable phenotypic expression along the years.