Search

Background: To assess hearing outcomes at 24 months of age in infants with mild congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection, depending on whether they have received antiviral treatment or not., Methods: A retrospective study within the European Registry of Children with cCMV was performed. Included children had cCMV diagnosed in utero/in the first 21 days of life, with normal physical examination, alanine aminotransferase <80 U/L and platelets >100,000 cs/mm3 and absence of hearing loss (HL) at birth. Cranial ultrasound (cUS) and/or cranial magnetic resonance imaging was normal or with minor findings (isolated lenticulostriate vasculopathy and/or germinolysis/caudothalamic or subependymal cysts, and/or focal/multifocal white matter involvement). The main outcome was the presence of HL at 24 months of age., Results: One hundred ninety-six patients met inclusion criteria. A total of 34.7% received antiviral treatment with valganciclovir/ganciclovir. Children treated had lower gestational age, birth weight and head circumference, and maternal primary infection was less frequent. Among treated children, 21.3% presented minor findings in cUS versus 6.3% in nontreatment group (P = 0.003). Nine patients (4.6%) developed HL at 24 months. Among children with HL, 20% presented minor findings in cUS versus 11.3% in non-HL group (P = NS). HL rate was similar in treated and nontreated groups (4.6% vs. 6.3%; P = 0.6)., Conclusions: One-third of the children were treated with antivirals and infants with minor neuroimaging findings at birth were more likely to receive antiviral. There were no differences in the prevalence of HL at 2 years of age between treated and not-treated children. Minor neuroimaging findings were not clearly associated with an increased risk of delayed onset HL., Competing Interests: D.B.-G. has received fees from MSD as a speaker in educational activities. The remaining authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the role of T-lymphocyte immune responses in newborns with congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection (cCMV) and their potential association with the development of long-term sequelae., Study Design: A multicenter, prospective study from 2017 to 2022 was conducted across 8 hospitals in Spain. Blood samples were collected within the first month of life from neonates diagnosed with cCMV. Intracellular cytokine staining was employed to evaluate the presence of CMV-specific interferon-gamma (IFN-γ)-producing CD8 + and CD4 + T lymphocytes (CMV-IFN-γ-CD8 + /CD4 + ) using flow cytometry. The development of sequelae, including hearing loss and neurologic impairment, was assessed during follow-up., Results: In total, 64 newborns were included; 42 infants (65.6%) had symptomatic cCMV. The median age at the last follow-up visit was 25.3 months (IQR 20.1-34.4). Eighteen infants had long-term sequelae (28.1%), predominantly hearing loss (20.3%) and neurologic disorders (15.6%). No relationship was observed between total count or percentage of CMV-specific IFN-γ-CD8 + or CD4 + lymphocytes and long-term sequelae. Multivariable analysis demonstrated an association between lower total lymphocyte count and long-term sequelae (aOR 0.549, 95% CI: 0.323-0.833), which requires further study., Conclusions: CMV-specific IFN-γ-CD4 + and CD8 + T-lymphocyte responses in neonates with cCMV were not predictive of long-term sequelae., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest DBG received fees from MSD as speaker in educational activities. JSL received fees from Biomerieux as speaker. None of the remaining authors have any conflict of interests to declare. This work was supported by projects PI 16/00807, PI 19/01333, and PI 22/01540, from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness) and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund. DBG was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation - Instituto de Salud Carlos III and by Fondos FEDER “Contratos para la intensificación de la actividad investigadora en el Sistema Nacional de Salud, 2020 INT20/00  086 and 2023 INT23/00  039”. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre. Paula Rodríguez-Molino was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation-Instituto de Salud Carlos III and Fondos FEDER (Contrato Río Hortega CM21/00  174)., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

We aimed to describe the outcomes, focusing on the hearing and neurological development, of infants born to mothers with COVID-19 during pregnancy and to evaluate the persistence of maternal antibodies in the first months of life. An observational, prospective study at a tertiary hospital in Madrid (Spain) on infants born to mothers with COVID-19 during pregnancy between March and September 2020 was conducted. A follow-up visit at 1-3 months of age with a physical and neurological examination, cranial ultrasound (cUS), SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR on nasopharyngeal swab, and SARS-CoV-2 serology were performed. Hearing was evaluated at birth through the automated auditory brainstem response and at six months of age through the auditory steady-state response. A neurodevelopmental examination using the Bayley-III scale was performed at 12 months of age. Of 95 infants studied, neurological examination was normal in all of them at the follow-up visit, as was the cUS in 81/85 (95%) infants, with only mild abnormalities in four of them. Serology was positive in 47/95 (50%) infants, which was not associated with symptoms or severity of maternal infection. No hearing loss was detected, and neurodevelopment was normal in 96% of the infants (median Z score: 0)., Conclusion: In this cohort, the majority of infants born to mothers with COVID-19 during pregnancy were healthy infants with a normal cUS, no hearing loss, and normal neurodevelopment in the first year of life. Only half of the infants had a positive serological result during the follow-up., What Is Known: • Hearing loss and neurodevelopmental delay in infants born to mothers with COVID-19 during pregnancy has been suggested, although data is inconsistent. Maternal antibody transfer seems to be high, with a rapid decrease during the first weeks of life., What Is New: • Most infants born to mothers with COVID-19 during pregnancy had normal hearing screening, cranial ultrasound, and neurodevelopmental status at 12 months of life. Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 were only detected in 50% of the infants at two months of life., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the leading cause of congenital infection worldwide. Up to 15%-20% of infected newborns will develop long-term sequelae such as hearing loss and neurologic abnormalities. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of congenital CMV infection (cCMV) and associated clinical abnormalities in Spain., Methods: A prospective screening for cCMV by viral load in saliva was performed. Saliva samples were obtained within the first 72 hours of life in a maternity ward in Madrid (Spain), during a 1-year period. All positive screening tests were confirmed with viral load in urine. Clinical, laboratory, auditory, visual and cerebral imaging assessments were performed in all children with cCMV., Results: Of the 4097 neonates born during the study period, 3190 (78%) were included. CMV viral load in saliva was detectable in 24/3190 (0.75%) children, and congenital infection was confirmed in 15/3190 (0.47%, CI 95%: 0.29%-0.77%). Positive predictive value was 62.5% (CI 95%: 46.5%-76.1%). Two infants presented symptoms at birth. Eight (53.3%) children showed abnormalities in magnetic resonance imaging; most of them isolated white matter abnormalities. Newborns with abnormalities in magnetic resonance imaging showed higher viral loads in blood and saliva (P = 0.04)., Conclusions: One in 200 neonates born in our hospital presented a cCMV infection. CMV viral load in saliva has been shown to be a simple and highly accepted screening method but should be confirmed by CMV detection in urine. In spite of the fact that half of infected children had abnormalities in cerebral imaging, diagnosis during the neonatal period would have been impossible without a screening program in most cases.

Introduction: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is the most common congenital infection in Europe. Symptoms are present at birth in 10% of infected children, and up to 30-40% have some degree of hearing loss after the newborn period., Methods: A retrospective study was performed over a period of 4 years and included all patients with congenital CMV infection diagnosed after the neonatal period using the dried blood spots from neonatal metabolic screening., Results: We present 5 patients diagnosed with congenital CMV infection outside the neonatal period. The main reasons for consultation were hearing loss and/or neurological impairment in the first few months of life., Discussion: Congenital CMV infection may be mildly symptomatic at birth, and present as hearing loss and/or neurological impairment in infancy. Therefore, a high degree of suspicion is necessary in order to make an accurate diagnosis and start specific treatment to improve the outcome., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.)

Background and Purpose: Aberrrant course of the cervical internal carotid arteries (ICAs) may result in submucosal masses in the posterior pharyngeal wall, may cause confusion at physical examination, may be symptomatic, and can be at risk of surgical injury. The aim of this report is to present the clinical and imaging characteristics associated with aberrant course of the cervical portion of the ICAs., Methods: Imaging studies of 5.500 patients were prospectively selected from CT studies of the head and neck performed in a five years period, in which the course of the one or both ICAs at the level of the hypopharynx and oropharynx was assessed as aberrant by means of a proposed classification. We then reviewed the medical records to establish which symptoms were present and if these symptoms could be caused by these variations in the course of the ICAs. In selected cases, further studies including magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, MR angiography (MRA), or selective catheter angiography were obtained., Results: In our restricted classification, we found 14 (0.2%) patients who met the cervical ICA aberrancy criteria. In all patients contrast enhanced CT or CT angiography was performed, 4 also have had MRI and MRA, and in two additional catheter angiograms were performed. Mean age was 62 years. Eight patients were male and seven were female. Four patients (28%) were considered to have clinical symptoms related to aberrant course of the ICAs. In most of the symptomatic patients both ICAs had aberrant courses. Overall, the course of the right ICA was aberrant in 43%, the left ICA in 14%, and both in 43%. In 50% of the cases the aberrancy of the artery was focal (localized to the oropharynx or laryngopharynx) and in the other 50% it involved the entire cervical course of the ICA., Conclusions: In most of our patients variations in the course of the cervical portion of the ICA involved the right side and were asymptomatic, except with regard to potential surgical risks. However, in about 25% of our patients these variations were thought to be the culprit of patient complaints, particularly oropharyngeal pulsatile sensation. Furthermore, extreme degrees of medialization of the ICAs resulted in progressive symptoms including hoarseness and upper respiratory distress.

Spontaneous retropharyngeal hematoma is an uncommon entity that is difficult to diagnose and may progress rapidly to airway obstruction. We report a case of a 53-year-old man with acute onset of retropharyngeal pain, dysphonia, and dysphagia after vomiting. On CT, a nonspecific retropharyngeal collection was seen. MR imaging demonstrated blood products, suggesting a diagnosis of retropharyngeal hematoma, and the patient was managed conservatively. MR imaging allowed specific diagnosis of a rare condition that is otherwise difficult to diagnose without surgical intervention.

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis is an uncommon but potentially lethal condition, with mortality between 5.5-30 per cent. It was previously associated with infections of the orbit, mastoid or face, but, after the advent of antibiotics, the most common causes include neoplasms, dehydration, oral contraceptives, coagulopathies, collagen diseases, and pregnancy and the puerperium. We report a case of fatal cerebral venous sinus thrombosis in a 68-year-old patient with a metastatic cervical mass, who developed internal jugular vein thrombosis that progressed cranially to transverse and sagittal sinus thrombosis.

A case of benign, symmetrical lipomatosis is presented. The clinical aspects of this entity are discussed and points of interest in the head and neck are noted.

Schwannomas (neurilemmomas) are benign tumors of the nerve sheath arising from the Schwann cells in the neural sheath of cranial and spinal nerves. The most frequent sites are the peripheral nerves of the head and neck and the flexor surfaces of the upper extremities. Parapharyngeal schwannomas are rare, which makes them interesting for ear, nose and throat specialists. A new case of schwannoma of the parapharyngeal space is reported. Our experience with the clinical management and surgical treatment of cervical schwannomas is discussed and the literature is reviewed.