Current practices of management of maternal and congenital Cytomegalovirus infection during pregnancy after a maternal primary infection occurring in first trimester of pregnancy: Systematic review

Abstract

Introduction Congenital CMV infection is the first worldwide cause of congenital viral infection but systematic screening of pregnant women and newborns for CMV is still debated in many countries. Objectives This systematic review aims to provide the state of the art on current practices concerning management of maternal and congenital CMV infection during pregnancy, after maternal primary infection (PI) in first trimester of pregnancy. Data sources Electronically searches on databases and hand searches in grey literature. Study eligibility criteria and participants Primary outcome was listing biological, imaging, and therapeutic management interventions in two distinct populations: population 1 are pregnant women with PI, before or without amniocentesis; population 2 are pregnant women with congenitally infected fetuses (after positive amniocentesis). Secondary outcome was pregnancy outcome in population 2. Results Out of 4,134 studies identified, a total of 31 studies were analyzed, with 3,325 pregnant women in population 1 and 1,021 pregnant women in population 2, from 7 countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Spain and USA). In population 1, ultrasound (US) examination frequency was 0.75/month, amniocentesis in 82% cases, maternal viremia in 14% and preventive treatment with hyperimmune globulins (HIG) or valaciclovir in respectively 14% and 4% women. In population 2, US examination frequency was 1.5/month, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 44% cases at 32 weeks gestation (WG), fetal blood sampling (FBS) in 24% at 28 WG, and curative treatment with HIG or valaciclovir in respectively 9% and 8% patients. Conclusions This systematic review illustrates management of maternal and congenital CMV during pregnancy in published and non-published literature, in absence of international consensus. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42019124342