Ocular manifestations of the congenital varicella-zoster syndrome.

The congenital varicella syndrome is a rare disorder in which affected infants developed characteristic ocular and systemic manifestations. We present an infant who showed this syndrome, following maternal varicella during pregnancy. The infant had low birth weight, cicatricial skin lesions, limb contractures, hypotonia, areflexia and chorioretinal scarring. Fetal infection was demonstrated with the presence of varicella-zoster-specific IgM in the baby.