Identify specimen as acute or convalescent. Acute and convalescent specimens must be submitted on separate request forms.
Storage Instructions:
Refrigerate
Causes for Rejection:
Hemolysis; lipemia; gross bacterial contamination
Reference Interval:
• Negative: <0.9 index
• Equivocal: 0.9-1.0 index
• Positive: >1.0 index
Use:
Aid in diagnosis of CMV infection. In general, a fourfold increase in IgG titer over a four-week period is presumptive evidence of recent infection; however, this relationship may not hold true in certain individuals due to biological fluctuation of the antibody levels. The best test to diagnose acute CMV infection is the CMV IgM assay test [096727].
Limitations:
Most adults are infected with CMV and it is normal to be a carrier of the virus.
Additional Information:
CMV causes an infectious mononucleosis syndrome clinically indistinguishable from heterophil positive mononucleosis, a very common entity. Significant CMV titers are found almost universally in patients with AIDS, and CMV genome has been demonstrated in the cells of Kaposi sarcoma. CMV is a significant cause of postcardiotomy, post-transplant, and postpump hepatitis syndromes.
