Cytomegalovirus studies of autopsy tissue. I. Virus isolation.

From January through September 1973, 55 virus isolates were recovered from lung and kidney specimens from 44 (8.8%) of 502 unselected autopsy cases. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) was isolated 42 times in 34 cases (36 from lung, four from kidney, and one each from pleural and bronchial tissues). Virus isolation was approximately six times more sensitive than histologic detection of CMV infections. Major causes of death included solid malignant tumors, leukemia, lymphoma, and renal allograft rejection; 13 patients had a variety of other diseases, predominantly cardiopulmonary. CMV was recovered from more males than females. The mean age of the CMV-positive group did not differ significantly from that of the CMV-negative group. CMV-positive cases were not preselected on the basis of specimen processing time. Serologic results indicate that recovery of CMV from an autopsy case was seven times more likely when the complement-fixing antibody titer was 1:16 or more.