Early motor development of children with a congenital cytomegalovirus infection.

BACKGROUND

Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection is the most important etiology of non-hereditary childhood hearing loss and an important cause of neurodevelopmental delay. The current study aimed to investigate the early motor development of symptomatic and asymptomatic cCMV infected children with and without sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL).

METHODS

Sixty-four children with a cCMV infection, without cerebral palsy, were compared to a control group of 107 normal hearing children. They were assessed around the ages of 6, 12, and 24 months with the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-2 (PDMS-2), Alberta Infant Motor Scales (AIMS), and Ghent Developmental Balance Test (GDBT). The cCMV infected children were subdivided into a symptomatic (n=26) and asymptomatic cCMV group (n=38) but also into a cCMV group with SNHL (n=19) and without SNHL (n=45).

RESULTS

Symptomatic cCMV infected children and cCMV infected children with SNHL performed significantly weaker for all gross motor outcome measures.

CONCLUSION

A congenital CMV infection is a risk factor for a delay in the early motor development. Follow-up will be necessary to gain insight into the exact cause of this motor delay and to define the predictive value of early motor assessment of cCMV infected children.