Cytomegalovirus studies of autopsy tissue. II. Incidence of inclusion bodies and related pathologic data.

Cytomegaloviruses (CMV) were recovered from lung tissue in 34 (6.8%) of 502 unselected autopsy cases. Inclusion bodies were detected in the lung in nine of these cases (26%) and in organs other than the lung in three others. Overall, the incidence of inclusion bodies in this series of 502 cases was 2.4%. Our data strongly indicate that virus isolation is more sensitive than histopathologic study in establishing the presence of CMV infection. However, CMV was not recovered from one kidney and one liver in which inclusion bodies were present, although the virus was isolated from lung. Four of five cases of renal allograft rejection were positive for both CMV and inclusion bodies. The incidence of CMV recovery and inclusion body detection in leukemia and lymphoma cases was more than twice that in cases with other diseases. CMV inclusion bodies with or without associated inflammation were found, in descending order of frequency, in the lung, kidney, liver, pancreas, adrenal gland, esophagus, prostate, testes, thyroid gland, parathyroid gland, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and heart.