Observations on Cerebral Cytomegalic Inclusion Disease of the Foetus and Newborn

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Abstract
Three cases of cytomegalic inclusion disease were reported, 2 in premature infants with advanced periventricular cerebral necrosis. These are the first confirmatory observations of the suspicion that this virus infection of fetal brain occurs quite early in utero. Cytomegalic salivary gland virus infection appears largely harmless outside infancy but remains a risk to the fetus if first contracted by the mother during pregnancy. This disease appears to be a potentially preventable cause of mental defect and cerebral malformation which, because they are congenital, are often regarded as unavoidable disasters of heredity.