Of "Cotton Balls" and "Owl's eyes"

Malays J Pathol. 2020 Dec;42(3):487-490.

Abstract

Report of a 3-month old girl child who died due to multi-systemic infection of cytomegalovirus (CMV) involving the lungs, liver and kidneys along with pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (PJP). The mother of the child tested positive for CMV IgG and HIV with a very low CD4 count (160/ μl). Co-infection of cytomegalovirus and pneumocystis jiroveci always occurs in the setting of immunocompromise. Congenital CMV infection is transmitted through the placenta, especially during the first trimester and causes severe multi-systemic disease whereas perinatal infection is acquired during childbirth/ breastfeeding where the babies have maternal protective antibodies leading to much milder or asymptomatic infection. PJP is more common in infancy and presents as hypoxic pneumonia. CMV causes cyto-nucleomegaly and classic "owl's eye" inclusions on histology while PJP presents with characteristic fluffy "cotton ball" alveolar exudates.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Letter

MeSH terms

  • Coinfection / pathology
  • Cytomegalovirus Infections / congenital*
  • Cytomegalovirus Infections / pathology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immunocompromised Host*
  • Infant
  • Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical
  • Pneumocystis carinii
  • Pneumonia, Pneumocystis / immunology*
  • Pneumonia, Pneumocystis / pathology*