definitionLupus skin lesions or isolated congenital heart block, or both may occur in new-born infants born to Ro(SSA) or La(SSB) antibody -positive mothers. These mothers may or may not have symptomatic connective tissue diseases (lupus erythematosus, Sjögren's syndrome). In affected infants, a discoid lupus rash, congenital heart block and a syndrome of leukopenia, thrombocytopenia and haemolytic anaemia may occur. Skin lesions are generally transient, fading with the disappearance of the maternal antibodies between the sixth and ninth month of age, but cases of patients with neonatal lupus which later developed SLE as adolescents have been reported. | synonymsLupus Erythematosus Neonatorum |
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