Neonatal lupus: clinical features, therapy, and pathogenesis

Neonatal lupus is a disease characterized by one or more of the following findings: congenital heart block, cardiomyopathy, cutaneous lupus lesions, hepatobiliary disease, and thrombocytopenia. Accumulating evidence indicates that the disease is probably caused by maternal autoantibodies, particularly autoantibodies of the Ro family. While often initially asymptomatic, mothers tend to develop symptoms of connective tissue disease. This review discusses the recent advances in the understanding of neonatal lupus, its clinical features, therapy, and pathogenesis.