Familial congenital complete heart block and maternal systemic lupus erythematosis.
A family is reported in which two siblings had congenital complete heart block with resultant congestive heart failure, the father and paternal grandfather show adult-onset conduction defects, and the mother has systemic lupus erythematosis. The interaction of heredity and environment is discussed in this context. A review of the literature on familial complete heart block suggests that so-called pure congenital-onset familial heart block, originally felt to be genetic, may in fact have an important enivronmental component, specifically related to ongoing maternal factors such as systemic lupus erythematosis.
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006327:Heart Block / Q000151:congenital*; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000151:congenital*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010375:Pedigree