ULTRASOUND CHARACTERISITIC OF THE THYMUS GLAND IN FULL-TERM NEWBORNS FROM MOTHERS WITH CYTOMEGALOVIRUS INFECTION

Abstract

Organometric parameters of the thymus gland in 156 full-term newborns were studied. The patients under examination were divided into 5 groups. The first group (control) included 30 newborns from mothers with physiological course of pregnancy. The second group (comparison) had 30 newborns from mothers with latent cytomegalovirus infection (CMVI) diagnosed in the first trimester of gestation. The third group (main) consisted of 33 children whose mothers suffered reactivation of chronic CMVI (IgM antibodies to CMVI were 1:200 and 1:400 without 4 times growth of IgG antibody titers to CMV 1:200-1:400). In the fourth group there were 32 newborns from mothers with reactivation of chronic CMVI (IgM antibodies to CMVI were 1:200 and 1:400 with 4 times growth of IgG antibody titers to CMV 1:200-1:800). The fifth group included 31 babies from mothers who suffered reactivation of chronic CMVI (IgM antibodies to CMVI were 1:200 and 1:400, there was 4 times growth of IgG antibody titers to CMV 1:200-1:400) in the first trimester of gestation. While comparing the values of length, breadth, front-back size, mass, the volume of thymus and the ratio of organ mass to the body mass of the newborn in the first, second, third and fourth groups there were not found any differences in the above-mentioned values. In the fifth group in comparison with the first one there was a decrease in the length of thymus (3.7±0.12 and 4.1±0.08 cm, respectively, р<0.01), the mass of the organ (8.6±0.43 and 10.0±0.35 g, respectively, р<0.05) and its volume (6.2±0.31 and 7.2±0.24 cm³, respectively, р<0.01). Thus full-term newborns who developed against the reactivation of chronic CMVI with high titers of anti-virus antibodies of IgG to CMV in their mothers at early stages of gestation had the suppression of the growth of the thymus gland caused by the disturbance of its organogenesis regulation mechanisms.