Adenovirus pneumonia, while common in infancy and childhood, is rarely documented and may be fatal in the neonatal period. Clinical manifestations include conjunctivitis, upper and lower respiratory diseases, gastroenteritis, and hemorrhagic cystitis. Diagnosis is confirmed by serologic tests, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and adenovirus antigen detection. There is no specific therapy for adenovirus infections, although possible benefits have been demonstrated with ribavirin, vidarabine and ganciclovir. A nine-day-old female newborn required hospitalization because of pneumonia. In the follow-up, pneumonia progressed to acute respiratory distress syndrome and severe pulmonary hypertension. Although surfactant replacement therapy and mechanical ventilation were performed for the pneumonia, and sildenafil, iloprost and magnesium sulphate therapies were administered for the pulmonary hypertension, the infant died with pulmonary hemorrhage on the 9th day of admission. Postmortem pathologic examination revealed adenoviral pneumonia and severe secondary pulmonary hypertension. Adenovirus should be considered in the etiology of severe sepsis and resistant pneumonia in neonates.

Keywords: adenovirus, pnömoni, akut respiratuar distres sendromu, pulmoner hipertansiyon, yenidoğan.