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Background Determinants of maternal-fetal cytomegalovirus (CMV) transmission and factors influencing the severity of congenital CMV (cCMV) infection are not well understood. Methods We conducted a descriptive, multicenter study in pregnant women ≥18 years old with primary CMV infection and their newborns to explore maternal immune responses to CMV and determine potential immunologic/virologic correlates of cCMV following primary infection during pregnancy. We developed alternative approaches looking into univariate/multivariate factors associated with cCMV, including a participant clustering/stratification approach and an interpretable predictive model–based approach using trained decision trees for risk prediction (post hoc analyses). Results Pregnant women were grouped in 3 distinct clusters with similar baseline characteristics, particularly gestational age at diagnosis. We observed a trend for higher viral loads in urine and saliva samples from mothers of infants with cCMV versus without cCMV. When using a trained predictive-model approach that accounts for interaction effects between variables, anti-pentamer immunoglobulin G antibody concentration and viral load in saliva were identified as biomarkers jointly associated with the risk of maternal-fetal CMV transmission. Conclusions We identified biomarkers of CMV maternal-fetal transmission. After validation in larger studies, our findings will guide the management of primary infection during pregnancy and the development of vaccines against cCMV. Clinical Trials Registration NCT01251744. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purpose of this pilot study is to compare the 2D scanning measurement of the foetal femoral diaphysis using anterior or lateral/external incidence at ultrasound., Methods: In August 2016, 30 consecutive patients underwent a second trimester morphology ultrasound between 21 and 24 weeks of gestation by a senior sonographist. In each case, the femur length was measured either with an anterior angle, estimating the straight aspect of the diaphysis or with a lateral angle, assessing its curved aspect. The two measures were collected prospectively. The difference between paired measurements was calculated and expressed in percentage (mm) and in percentile., Results: The median difference between the two ultrasound angles in terms of femur length was 3,55% and in terms of percentile variation was 17,16., Conclusion: An anterior angle of measurement of the femur length seems to allow an optimal measure of the straight and longest aspect of the diaphysis. According to our results, this angle should be considered when scoring the quality of a morphological ultrasound, but further and larger studies should be done to confirm our hypothesis., Competing Interests: Declaration: The author report no financial or commercial conflicts of interest.