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Quantitative monitoring of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection is helpful in determining appropriate antiviral management of transplant recipients. Quantitative PCR technologies have demonstrated accuracy in measuring systemic HCMV loads. A total of 298 consecutive whole-blood specimens submitted to the Clinical Virology Laboratory at Vanderbilt University Medical Center from 15 February to 31 October 1999 were included in the study. In addition to a qualitative colorimetric microtiter plate PCR assay (MTP-PCR) and a semiquantitative pp65 antigenemia assay, each specimen was measured for HCMV loads by a quantitative PCR assay performed on an ABI PRISM 7700 Sequence Detection System (TaqMan). Compared to results of the MTP-PCR, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 70.5, 97.5, 87.8, and 92.8% for the antigenemia assay and were 96 …