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Cytomegalovirus (CMV) NAAT, Urine and Plasma - Provincial

Discipline

Microbiology

Overview

Description

  • CMV is a ubiquitous virus and most people with this infection have no symptoms. Direct detection (+/- quantification) of CMV is performed by nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT).

Ordering recommendations 

  • Prospective transplant donors, and prospective or recent transplant recipients
  • Immunocompromised individuals with fever, hepatitis, or colitis
  • Pregnant women or neonates in the investigation of suspected congenital infection

Specimen Information

Specimen types accepted

  • Transplant donors and recipients: Plasma (Viral Load)
  • Other immunocompromised: Plasma (Viral Load)
  • Pregnant women or neonates: Urine (random)

Specimen collection container

Collection procedure

  • Plasma must be separated from whole blood within 24 hours of collection Store plasma at 4°C and ship on ice pack within 48 hours
    •     Greater than 48 hours, store plasma at -20oC and ship frozen on dry ice

Required volume

  • Plasma: Optimum volume is 4 mL; minimum volume is 1 mL
  • Urine: optimum volume is 20 mL; minimum volume is 10 mL.

Transport and stability

  • Urine: store and transport refrigerated (4°C)

Performance

Methodology

RRPL
  • In-house, qualitative nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT)
RUH
  • In-house, qualitative nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT)
  • In-house, quantitative nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT)

Days/times performed

  • All transplant donor/recipient testing and all quantitative CMV viral load testing is performed at the Royal University Hospital Microbiology Laboratory in Saskatoon
  • All neonatal testing for the diagnosis of congenital CMV is performed at the Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory in Regina
  • Qualitative diagnostic testing for other indications is performed both in Saskatoon and Regina

Maximum laboratory time

  • CMV Quantitative Assay is run every Thursday at RUH
  • Qualitative Assay - Time to results 24 – 72 hours after receipt of specimen in laboratory
  • Positive CMV NAAT testing in neonates <21 days is a critical result and will be communicated by phone

Specimen retention time

RRPL
  • Newborn screening confirmatory specimens are saved indefinitely
  • Other diagnostic specimens are saved for 1 week after final report
RUH
  • Specimens are saved for 5 days after final report

Other information

Patient History

  • RRPL:  Infants born in Saskatchewan that submit dried blood spots for routine Newborn Screening will be screened for congenital CMV. Individuals with positive screening results require confirmatory testing using CMV NAAT

Last Updated: May 26, 2025