Nuclear and cytoplasmic inclusions in disseminated human cytomegalovirus infection.

A case of disseminated human cytomegalovirus infection is described in a full-term female who expired 3 1/2 h after birth. Cytomegalic inclusions, both intranuclear and intracytoplasmic, were observed mainly in the kidneys, liver, lungs, and anterior pituitary but were not seen in the bone marrow and spleen. Whereas the nuclear inclusions consisted of an amorphous filamentous meshwork with a variable number of pleomorphic capsids, the cytoplasmic inclusions were composed of membrane-bound aggregates of mature virions with dense cores and multilayered envelopes. The complex envelopment process of cytomegalovirus appears to involve successive coats derived from the nuclear membrane and from the endoplasmic reticulum or cytoplasmic vesicles.