Abstract
Objective: To examine whether hematological and biochemical parameters assist in diagnosing cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections and differentiating between CMV-G and CMV-M. Cytomegalovirus causes distinct hematological changes that can serve as markers for diagnosis.
Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 54 patients infected with CMV (25 CMV-G and 29 CMV-M) and 82 healthy controls. Age, gender, and routine hematological and biochemical parameters were evaluated. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis and logistic regression were used for data analysis.
Results: In comparison to controls, laboratory findings of patients with CMV-G revealed characteristic decreases in red blood cells (RBC), hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), and platelets (p < 0.05); those with CMV-M showed reductions in the same parameters alongside elevation of monocytes, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) and AST-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) (p < 0.05). The most effective blood markers for differentiating CMV-G patients from controls were RBC, HGB, HCT, mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), platelets, AST, ferritin, APRI and Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) meanwhile, for CMV-M patients, distinguishing markers were RBC, HGB, HCT, MCH, monocytes, platelets, AST, TIBC, APRI and FIB-4. The best predictors for distinguishing CMV-M from CMV-G were TIBC, AST, HCT, monocytes, HGB, ALT, APRI and FIB-4 all with area under the curve values greater than 0.6 (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: Hematological and biochemical indicators can successfully distinguish CMV infections, with TIBC, AST, HCT, monocytes, HGB, ALT, APRI and FIB-4 being potentially useful for discriminating CMV-M from CMV-G. These findings could help predict CMV-infected patients.
Article Type
Original Study
First Page
1202
Last Page
1209
Recommended Citation
Shaikh, Ahmad A.; Alabdaly, Mofareh H.; Ageeli, Nabil A.; Alasmari, Sultan Z.; Mansour, Adel M. Abo; and Makkawi, Mohammed H.
(2026)
"A Predictive Model for Cytomegalovirus Infection Using Routine Hematological and Biochemical Parameters: A Pilot Study,"
Saudi Medical Journal: Vol. 47:
Iss.
7, Article 12.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15537/1658-3175.8809