CONGENITAL MALFORMATION OF CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM ASSOCIATED WITH GENITAL TYPE (TYPE 2 HERPESVIRUS

A newborn infant was observed in whom micrencephaly, intracranial calcification, microphthalmus, and retinal dysplasia were associated with vesicular skin lesions from which herpesvirus type 2 was recovered. The mother and infant had antibody to only the type 2 virus. The history suggests that the infant became infected with the herpesvirus transplacentally early in gestation. A previously reported case of similar malformations was also associated with herpesvirus isolation from skin lesions. These two cases, considered together, suggest that the herpesvirus has a neurotropic teratogenic potential. © 1969 The C. V. Mosby Company.