Subclinical maternal autoimmune disease leading to congenital high degree atrioventricular block: Case report and review of the literature

Shelby E Walcott; Christian H Tan; Jason Wicker; Silvio Litovsky

doi:10.1016/j.carpath.2024.107634

Subclinical maternal autoimmune disease leading to congenital high degree atrioventricular block: Case report and review of the literature

Cardiovasc Pathol. 2024 Mar 18:72:107634. doi: 10.1016/j.carpath.2024.107634. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Shelby E Walcott¹, Christian H Tan², Jason Wicker³, Silvio Litovsky⁴

Affiliations

¹ University of Alabama at Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL.
² Department of Pediatric Cardiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL. Electronic address: Christian.tan.md@adventhealth.com.
³ Department of Pathology, Children's of Alabama, Birmingham, AL.
⁴ Division of Anatomic Pathology, Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.

PMID: 38508435
DOI: 10.1016/j.carpath.2024.107634

Abstract

Maternal autoimmune disease is the most common cause of congenital heart block (CHB), a rare illness characterized by fibrosis and calcification of the fetal atrioventricular (AV) node due to maternal autoantibodies anti-SSA/Ro and anti-SSB/La. We report the full autopsy and clinical information on a female neonate with high degree AV block and calcification in the AV node, atrial approaches to the AV node, and both right and left bundle branches, born to a 27-year-old female with subclinical autoimmune disease.

Keywords: AV node; Calcification; Heart block; Lupus.

Publication types

Case Reports