In the skin, cytomegalovirus can cause sharply punched-out ulcers. Histologically, affected cells are enlarged, with large intranuclear inclusions with a typical halo around them. There is relatively little acute inflammatory reaction to the viral infection. Cells that are productively infected and bearing inclusions tend to be significantly larger than surrounding cells. Infection may be acquired trans-placentally, around childbirth, through mother's milk, or through various forms of tissue and body fluid transfer.
Most individuals have a mild flu-like episode upon initial infection.
The virus subsequently becomes latent and persists in many tissues of the body. In immunocompromised individuals, however, reactivation and involvement of almost any organ of the body can take place. Trans-placental transfer results in a syndrome that includes extensive damage to the developing brain, chorioretinitis and pneumonitis. Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease. 794 Search Medline at National Library of Medicine Please be patient during transfer.