ObjectiveTo establish a new method for diagnosis of active human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) i nfection and disease in transplant recipients.MethodsThe expression of HCMV pp67-mRNA in blood was detected by the nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA), in comparison to detection of pp65 HCMV a ntigen in white blood cells.ResultsIn 50 patients subject to transplantation, 26 were positive for pp65 (≥1/50 000 WBC). Among them, 16 were positive for pp67. In 9 cases of CMV with symptoms, b oth pp65 and pp67 were positive. In the patients negative for pp65, pp67 was not positive. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 100?%, 88?%, 56?% and 100?%, respectively.ConclusionDetection of pp67-mRNA by NASBA is a rapid objective and accurate approach for the diagnosis of HCMV infection.