Fatal case of cytomegalovirus pneumonitis in a postpartum woman.

This is the first reported fatal case of cytomegalic inclusion disease in a pregnant woman. The 28-year-old woman died after cesarean section for cephalopelvic disproportion. The diagnosis of cytomegalic inclusion disease was made at autopsy by finding enlarged pneumocytes with typical intranuclear inclusions, positive direct immunofluorescence on the lung tissue with antibody specific for cytomegalovirus, and retrospective serologic titers of 1:64 for the virus. The time of the infection is unclear, but the absence of infection in the newborn may suggest an onset late in pregnancy; there was no evidence of disease before labor and cesarean section.