TUESDAY, Nov. 22, 2016 -- More details on how the Zika virus affects infants and adults
will be presented to international researchers meeting in Chicago next week.
Three studies
scheduled for presentation at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of
North America attempt to shed light on the mosquito-borne virus that's linked
to severe birth defects in babies. Most cases to date have occurred in Latin
American countries.
In one study,
researchers used CT imaging to examine the central nervous system of 16
newborns whose mothers were infected with Zika during pregnancy. The babies
were found to have a number of brain abnormalities.
"Our study
proves that Zika virus infection can cause congenital brain damage in babies
with and without microcephaly," study author Dr. Natacha Calheiros de Lima
Petribu said in a society news release. She's with the department of radiology
at Barao de Lucena Hospital in Recife, Brazil.
Babies with
microcephaly are born with an abnormally small head and brain.
In another
study, researchers used MRI to assess Zika-affected adults and infants with
neurological disorders. Pregnant women with rash outbreaks suggestive of Zika
also underwent MRI screening.
Although most
Zika-infected adults experience only mild symptoms such as fever and rash, some
have developed Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare disorder involving severe muscle
weakness.
Many of the
adults in this study had changes to certain spinal and facial nerves. Some had
inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, or brain stem and spinal cord
lesions. The infants showed brain structure abnormalities, the researchers
found.
"It was
alarming to find so many cases of neurological syndromes in adults, some very
serious, related to Zika virus infection," study author Dr. Emerson de
Melo Casagrande said in the news release.
"We have
also noticed a difference between these syndromes, even though the trigger was
the same," said Casagrande, who is in the radiology department at Antonio
Pedro University Hospital of Federal Fluminense University in Niteroi, Brazil.
In the third
study, researchers conducted ultrasound and fetal MRIs on Zika-infected
pregnant women at different stages of pregnancy.
After birth, the
babies underwent ultrasound, CT and MRI imaging. More than half the infants had
microcephaly, brain calcifications, loss of brain tissue volume, and other
brain structural abnormalities, the researchers found.
"The
emergence of Zika virus in the Americas has coincided with increased reports of
babies born with microcephaly," said study author Dr. Heron Werner Jr., of
the radiology department at Rio de Janeiro's Clinica de Diagnostico por Imagem.
"An early
diagnosis may help in treating these babies after birth. Moreover, the
knowledge of abnormalities present in the central nervous system may give hints
about the pathophysiology of the disease," Werner added.
The radiological
meeting runs from Nov. 27 through Dec. 2. Research presented at meetings is
usually considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical
journal.
Emoticon Emoticon