Is matching between women and donors feasible to avoid cytomegalovirus infection in artificial insemination with donor semen?

Abstract

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common cause of congenital infection responsible for neonatal mortality, morbidity and later sequelae. Primary infection in the first half of pregnancy seems to have the worst outcome. CMV has been frequently recovered from human semen. In the setting of artificial insemination with semen donors, matching recipients and donors for CMV antibodies with the purpose of reserving seronegative semen for seronegative women is a recommended strategy to avoid the risk of a primary maternal CMV infection during pregnancy. We have reviewed the CMV seroprevalence in semen donors and candidates for insemination in our centre, and compared it with the CMV seroprevalence of blood donors. Without matching for CMV antibodies, the risk of a seronegative recipient being inseminated with seropositive semen was 21%. The same risk calculated for blood donors was 17%. Matching semen donors and recipients for CMV antibodies is possible as, in our study, 48% of the recipients and 55% of the donors were seronegative. During serological follow-up of CMV seronegative individuals in the fertility centre, no seroconversion was observed among donors; two seroconversions occurred in recipients, but not in relationship to therapeutic inseminations.