Useful For

Assessing viral response to antiviral treatment as measured by changes in CMV DNA levels. This test is not intended as a diagnostic test to confirm the presence of CMV infection (see CMV virus culture).

Aliases

CMV

Cytomegalovirus

Cytomegalo Inclusion Disease (CMID)

Specimen

Specimen Type	CSF collected in sterile container	Whole Blood	Plasma/Serum
Specimen Volume	Minimum volume of CSF required is 250μL	Minimum volume of Whole Blood required is 3ml	Minimum volume of Plasma/Serum required is 1ml
Rejected Due To	Anticoagulants and Icteric other than EDTA

 

Trends are more useful than individual assay results as the rate of rise of viral load as well as initial quantitative viral load assessment are independent indicators of CMV disease risk. Interpretation of CMV viral load kinetics is best considered with the guidance of transplant specialist and infectious disease specialists.

CMV disease, particularly in the gastrointestinal tract and the lungs can occur in the absence of detectable viral load in peripheral blood.

CMV DNA DETECTED: quantitative value reported as copies/mL

Method Description

The Real-Time PCR TaqMan® CMV test is based on nucleic extraction from plasma, PCR amplification of target DNA using CMV specific primers, detection of amplified product by oligonucleotide probes specific for the target(s). Quantitative determination of amplified product is accomplished by comparing the amplified product signal to that of a quantitation standard for each specimen.

Status	Days	Analytic Time	Maximum Laboratory Time
Routine	Everyday	7h	6 days