Cytomegalovirus Infection in Immunocompromised ICU Patients: What Intensivists Need To Know

link.springer.com February 14, 2025

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and disease in critically ill immunocompromised patients pose a unique challenge for intensivists. The broad spectrum of clinical presentations and the difficulty in distinguishing CMV-related symptoms from other causes require a high level of clinical suspicion.

Accurate interpretation of nucleic acid load levels and careful evaluation of CMV’s pathogenic role when it is found are critical.

Further studies focusing specifically on CMV infection and disease in critically ill immunocompromised patients are needed to optimize management strategies.

We conducted a literature search in PubMed up to April 2024, focusing on CMV infection and disease in patients with overt immunosuppression (hematopoietic stem cell and solid organ transplantation, solid or hematologic malignancies, HIV infection, immunosuppressive drugs, including corticosteroids, and primary immunodeficiencies) admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).