[Leukocytic cytomegalic antigen. A new diagnostic method of cytomegalovirus infection after transplantation].

The occurrence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) viremia after transplantation is predictive of visceral lesions. Three-hundred and sixty blood samples were collected from 21 transplant recipients and examined. Direct CMV antigen detection was positive in 41 samples (11.4 percent), rapid viral isolation in 24 samples (6.7 percent) and conventional cell culture in 9 cases (2.5 percent). Direct detection of CMV antigen in blood leucocytes is as specific as, and more sensitive and rapid than isolation in culture. In 50 percent of secondary infections the antigenaemia assay and serology were equally sensitive, and antigenemia appeared earlier in 2 primary infections.