{ "abstract": "Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) is the most common congenital infection and a leading cause of sensorineural hearing loss as well as neurodevelopmental impairment. In recent years, awareness, screening, and management strategies for cCMV have evolved. This study aimed to assess temporal changes in the clinical presentation, treatment, and outcomes of children diagnosed with cCMV infection. We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis using data from the CCMVnet registry ( www.ccmvnet.org ), an international multicenter database collecting anonymized data on children with confirmed cCMV infection. A total of 1653 patients diagnosed between 2011 and 2024 were included and divided into two cohorts: 2011-2016 (n = 566) and 2017-2024 (n = 1087). The year 2017 was selected as a pragmatic cutoff, corresponding to the year of publication of the European expert consensus statement on congenital CMV. Children were identified through antenatal, clinical, hearing-related, and newborn screening pathways. Symptomatic cCMV at birth was defined by the presence of at least one predefined clinical, laboratory, hearing, or neuroimaging finding based on previously published criteria. A comparative analysis between two distinct time periods was conducted, encompassing neonatal clinical findings, neuroimaging results, treatment strategies, and long-term outcomes. Newborns classified as symptomatic at birth decreased in the more recent cohort, from 49.2% in P1 to 44.2% in P2 (p = 0.07). The use of intravenous ganciclovir decreased from 7.3% to 2.8% (p < 0.001), while the use of oral valganciclovir alone increased from 43.8% to 78.7% (p < 0.001). Differences in long-term outcomes were observed between the two periods, with motor impairment at 12 months decreasing from 16.5% to 6.2% (p < 0.001) and any long-term sequelae at 36 months decreasing from 40.0% to 31.0% (p = 0.05).Conclusion\n\nThis study highlights temporal differences in the clinical spectrum, management, and outcomes of children with congenital CMV infection in Europe. The higher proportion of asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic children in the latter period may reflect changes in maternal and neonatal screening practices. The observed temporal differences provide insight into the evolving clinical landscape of cCMV diagnosis and management, while their underlying causes cannot be determined from the present data.What is known\n\n• Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection is the leading infectious cause of sensorineural hearing loss and neurodevelopmental impairment in children. • Clinical management of cCMV has evolved substantially over the last decade, particularly following the publication of the European expert consensus statement in 2017 and alongside expanding screening strategies.What is new\n\n• In our cohort, children diagnosed with cCMV after 2017 presented with milder clinical manifestations and experienced fewer long-term sequelae than those diagnosed before 2017. • Temporal changes in diagnostic pathways, treatment practices, and clinical outcomes were observed between the two study periods.", "abstract_shown": true, "affiliations": [ "Clinic of Infectious Diseases and Pediatric Department, Bulovka University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic. jitka.bolchova@bulovka.cz.", "Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. jitka.bolchova@bulovka.cz.", "Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. jitka.bolchova@bulovka.cz.", "Department of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Medical School, University of Patras, Patras, Greece.", "Instituto de Investigación Hospital, 12 de Octubre (i+12), Madrid, Spain.", "Third Department of Pediatrics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, ATTIKON General Hospital, Athens, Greece.", "Malalties Infecciosesi Resposta Inflamatòria Sistèmicaen Pediatria, Servei de Malalties Infecciosesi Patologia Importada, Institut de Recerca Pediàtrica Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain.", "Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.", "Division of Neonatology, Department of Translational Medical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.", "Hospital Universitario La Paz, Instituto Investigación Hospital La Paz (IDIPaz), Madrid, Spain.", "Pediatric Infectious Diseases Unit, Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain.", "Hospital Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italy.", "Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunodeficiencies Unit, Children's Hospital, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain.", "Hospital Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.", "Unit of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, Department of Woman Mother and Child, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.", "Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK.", "Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, Vrije Universiteit Brussels, University Hospital UZ Brussel, Brussels Health Campus, De Poolster, Rehabilitation Centre, Brussels, Belgium.", "Main-Kinzig Clinics Gelnhausen, Gelnhausen, Germany.", "Hospital Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico S. Matteo, Pavia, Italy.", "Hippokration General Hospital of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.", "Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK.", "CIBERINFEC: Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Enfermedades Infecciosas, Madrid, Spain." ], "article_type": "research article", "arxiv": null, "author_total": 25, "authors": [ { "affs": [ 0, 1, 2 ], "name": "Jitka Bolchová" }, { "affs": [ 3 ], "name": "Despoina Gkentzi" }, { "affs": [ 4 ], "name": "Roberto Pedrero Tomé" }, { "affs": [ 5 ], "name": "Garyfallia Syridou" }, { "affs": [ 6, 7 ], "name": "Antoni Noguera-Julián" }, { "affs": [ 6 ], "name": "María Ríos-Barnés" }, { "affs": [ 8 ], "name": "Serena Salomé" }, { "affs": [ 8 ], "name": "Francesco Raimondi" }, { "affs": [ 4 ], "name": "Serena Villaverde" }, { "affs": [ 9, 10 ], "name": "Fernando Baquero-Artigao" }, { "affs": [ 9, 10 ], "name": "Paula Rodriguez-Molino" }, { "affs": [ 11 ], "name": "Danilo Buonsenso" }, { "affs": [ 11 ], "name": "Laura Martino" }, { "affs": [ 12 ], "name": "Beatriz Álvarez-Vallejo" }, { "affs": [ 13 ], "name": "Jesús Saavedra" }, { "affs": [ 14 ], "name": "Yves Fougere" }, { "affs": [ 15 ], "name": "Hermione Lyall" }, { "affs": [ 16 ], "name": "Ina Foulon" }, { "affs": [ 17 ], "name": "Horst Buxmann" }, { "affs": [ 18 ], "name": "Simona Zanette" }, { "affs": [ 19 ], "name": "Olga Tsiatsiou" }, { "affs": [ 20 ], "name": "Jessica Wan" }, { "affs": [ 10, 21, 7, 4 ], "name": "Daniel Blázquez-Gamero" }, { "affs": [ 5 ], "name": "Vana Papaevangelou" }, { "name": "cCMVnet Registry Study Group" } ], "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ag47aemc3hpcw.bib", "cited_by": 0, "doi": "10.1007/s00431-026-07485-2", "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13668897", "id": "ag47aemc3hpcw", "issns": [ "0340-6199", "1432-1076" ], "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42873372", "language": "eng", "licence": "CC-BY", "licence_label": "CC BY", "licence_source": "article", "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "metadata_licence": null, "native_subjects": [ [ "openalex", "2713|Cytomegalovirus and herpesvirus research" ] ], "openalex": "W7221830190", "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13668897?pdf=render", "pmcid": "PMC13668897", "pmid": "42873372", "published": "2026-10-14", "publisher": null, "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ag47aemc3hpcw.ris", "sources": [ { "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:46Z", "native_id": "MED:42873372", "source": "europepmc", "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42873372" } ], "subjects": [ { "field": "medicine", "origin": "openalex:2713|Cytomegalovirus and herpesvirus research", "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health" } ], "title": "Temporal trends in the clinical presentation, management, and outcomes of children with congenital cytomegalovirus infection.", "title_text": "Temporal trends in the clinical presentation, management, and outcomes of children with congenital cytomegalovirus infection.", "type": "peer-reviewed", "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:18:46Z", "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ag47aemc3hpcw", "venue": "European journal of pediatrics", "versions": [] }