Screening universale e Test Mirato per la diagnosi delle infezioni congenite da CMV. Uno studio retrospettivo.

INTRODUCTION - Congenital CMV infection is the main cause of late sensorineural hearing loss and neurological disorders. It is often asymptomatic at birth and remains latent over time. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY - The aim of this study is to make a comparison between universal screening and expandedtargeted screening that took place at different times at our hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS - Universal screening at birth was applied from October 2015 to May 2017. All newborns at the Spedali Civili ( from newborn and intensive care unit) underwent saliva testing for CMV . From 2021 to 2023,expandedtargeted screening was applied to newborns, so only infants with symptoms related to infection or refer at otohaemissions (TEOAE) were analized. In both cases a positive saliva test was confirmed by plasma or urine test. The positive patients underwent audiological follow-up and auxological, ophthalmological and neuropsychiatric check-ups. RESULTS - All 5032 infants were tested in the first period (2015-2017). The CMV test was positive in 21 infants (0.41%), 2 refer and 19 pass. In the second period (2021-2023), on the other hand, 9792 infants were born, of whom 130 were born to a mother with CMV infection or with symptoms suggestive of infection and were therefore tested. Of these, 17 (0.17%) were positive for infection, 7 were refer and 10 pass. CONCLUSIONS- The universal test is more complete than the targeted test in identifying patients who have a silent congenital infection and allows them to be monitored over time to detect late sequelae at an early stage. It could be applied thanks to the accessibility of the saliva test.