Cytomegalovirus endolabyrinthitis.

A premature male infant, who died 22 days after birth with hyaline membrane disease, was found to have had cytomegalic inclusion disease at autopsy. Histopathologic examination of the temporal bones showed cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection of the entire endolabyrinth without involvement of the neural and sensory structures. These findings support the thesis that late gestational or perinatal fetal CMV infection results in an endolymphatic labyrinthitis. We hypothesize that blood-borne virus passes from the stria vascularis into the endolymphatic spaces and infects the nonneurosensory epithelium. This pattern of infection differs from the perilabyrinthitis of human varicellazoster and experimentally produced mouse CMV.