Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40431731›Full record

Trial reportViruses2025

Foscarnet Versus Ganciclovir for Severe Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection: Short- and Long-Term Follow-Up.

Giovanni Nigro, Marta Buzzi, Milena Catenaro, Eleonora Coclite, Mario Muselli

Abstract readComparative StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Viruses, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. First Case of Concurrent Cytomegalovirus andInfection and drug resistance · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Giovanni NigroNon-Profit Association Mother-Infant Cytomegalovirus Infection (AMICI), 00042 Rome, Italy.ORCID 0009-0003-1006-8148
Marta BuzziAzienda Sanitaria Locale, 66100 Chieti, Italy.
Milena CatenaroPediatric Department, Santo Spirito Hospital, 65121 Pescara, Italy.
Eleonora CocliteAzienda Sanitaria Locale, 64100 Teramo, Italy.
Mario MuselliDepartment of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, 67100 L'Aquila, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is the most common and serious congenital infection, with universal screening in pregnancy, standardized therapy, and a vaccine still lacking. STUDY

designIn the 1990s, we noted that intravenous ganciclovir did not cure some children with severe sequelae due to congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. Therefore, we performed an open randomized trial using intravenous foscarnet as an alternative to intravenous ganciclovir in 24 infants (12 in each therapy group), all with severe neurological manifestations due to congenital CMV infection. Nine and five infants, belonging to the foscarnet or ganciclovir group, respectively, had abnormal hearing. One infant in each group also had chorioretinitis. Concomitantly, 12 CMV-infected infants with similar manifestations, who did not receive any therapy, were used as controls. The results of short-term (2 years) and long-term (7-29 years, mean 22.2) follow-up are reported herein. Short-term results: Neurological outcomes were normal in five of the twelve children who were treated with foscarnet, compared to nine of the twelve children given ganciclovir. None of the untreated children were healthy. There was a statistically significant difference (

conclusionsIntravenous ganciclovir and foscarnet were found to be safe at long-term follow-up and appeared to be capable of mitigating the neurological and auditory consequences of congenital CMV disease at the short-term follow-up. However, there was progressive worsening of the symptomatology in all three groups, with a statistically significant increase in the number of deaths (

Indexed as

Antiviral AgentsCytomegalovirus InfectionsFoscarnetGanciclovirAdolescentAdultChildChild, PreschoolCytomegalovirusFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansInfantInfant, NewbornMalePregnancyAntiviral AgentsFoscarnetGanciclovircongenital cytomegalovirus infectionencephalopathyfoscarnetganciclovirsensorineural hearing loss

Identifiers

PMID40431731
PMCPMC12115793

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.