Health Outcomes of 215 Mothers of Children With Autoimmune Congenital Heart Block: Analysis of the French Neonatal Lupus Syndrome Registry.

OBJECTIVE: Transplacental passage of maternal anti-SSA and anti-SSB antibodies, potentially associated with maternal autoimmune diseases, can cause neonatal lupus syndrome. Given the paucity of data in this setting, we report short- and long-term outcomes of mothers of offspring with congenital heart block (CHB). METHODS: This retrospective study included anti-SSA/SSB antibody-positive mothers of fetuses with high-degree CHB and focused on their health status before pregnancy, at CHB diagnosis, and thereafter. RESULTS: We analyzed 215 women with at least 1 pregnancy with CHB. Prior to this diagnosis, only 52 (24%) mothers had been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, mainly systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE; n = 26, 12%) and Sjögren syndrome (SS; n = 16, 7%). Six more were diagnosed with an autoimmune disease during the index pregnancy. Of the 157 mothers (73%) with no such diagnosis at childbirth, 77 (49%) developed one after a median follow-up of 11 years (range: 21 days to 54 years). By the end of follow-up, 135 women (63%) had an autoimmune disease diagnosis, mainly SLE (n = 54, 25%) and SS (n = 72, 33%). Three patients with SLE had renal involvement, and only 6 (3%) had required an immunosuppressive drug at any point. The symptoms best predicting autoimmune disease development were arthralgia and myalgia (P < 0.001), dry syndrome (P = 0.01), and parotid swelling (P = 0.05). CONCLUSION: One-quarter of the patients had an autoimmune disease diagnosis at the time of the fetal CHB diagnosis. Nearly half of those without an initial diagnosis progressed during follow-up, most without severe manifestations. Severe diseases such as lupus nephritis were rarely seen, and immunosuppressive drugs were rarely required.

Pregnancy-associated pelvic vein thrombosis: Insights from a multicenter case series.

BACKGROUND: Pelvic vein thrombosis (PVT) is a rare complication of pregnancy that can lead to life-threatening complications, such as pulmonary embolism (PE). OBJECTIVE: To describe characteristics of PVT and its treatment in pregnancy in the province of Quebec, Canada. PATIENTS/METHODS: We developed a province-wide case series of PVT in pregnancy including four tertiary care centers and the Registry of Rare Diseases of the Groupe d'Étude en Médecine Obstétricale du Québec. Using diagnostic codes, we included cases with confirmed PVT on imaging during pregnancy or within 6 weeks postpartum from July 2003 to June 2018. RESULTS: A total of 47 cases were identified. PVT diagnosis was generally made in the early postpartum period (median of 9 [interquartile range (IQR) 4.5-12] days postpartum). Most PVT (94%) included in this series were symptomatic. Women presented primarily with abdominal pain (77%) and fever (55%), often prolonged despite antibiotics (mean 4.45 ± 2.39 days, with 39% having fever for more than 5 days). The most common risk factor was surgery (57%) and peripartum infections (54%). Thirty-eight (83%) women received antibiotics and 41 (89%) were anticoagulated. Three cases of PE (7%) occurred concomitantly, 11% of women required intensive care, and 19% had inferior vena cava (IVC) clot extension. The episode resulted in prolonged hospitalization (median 6 [IQR 3-10.75] days), with 48% being hospitalized more than 7 days. CONCLUSION: Symptomatic PVT has significant clinical implications with prolonged fever and risks of extension in the IVC and PE, leading to prolonged hospitalization including in the intensive care unit. Therapeutic anticoagulation and antibiotics, when infection is documented, should be considered for management.

Routine repeated echocardiographic monitoring of fetuses exposed to maternal anti-SSA antibodies: time to question the dogma.

In around 1% of exposed pregnancies, anti-Ro/SSA and anti-La/SSB antibodies lead to congenital heart block, the main feature of neonatal lupus syndrome. As such, echocardiographic screening to detect congenital heart block, done every other week from 16 weeks to at least 24 weeks gestation, is widely recommended for anti-SSA-positive pregnant women. Such screening is now routinely done in many centres worldwide. In this Viewpoint, we call this dogma into question for several reasons. Even if congenital heart block is discovered (which is rare), the usefulness of treatment with fluorinated steroids has not been shown, whereas the associated side-effects are well known. The discovery of congenital heart block very early in the pregnancy does not modify obstetric management, and at least 500 ultrasounds are needed to find one case of congenital heart block, which would ultimately be found by other means. Finally, this screening strategy misses most cases of congenital heart block because most affected women are not known to have anti-SSA antibodies, and thus are not screened. Accordingly, except in the context of research protocols, which are certainly needed and are outside the scope of this Viewpoint, overturning the dogma of routine repeated screenings for congenital heart block could save money and health-care staff time and prevent maternal stress without substantial clinical consequences.

Effect of in utero hydroxychloroquine exposure on the development of cutaneous neonatal lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVE: Cutaneous neonatal lupus (cNL) occurs in possibly 5%-16% of anti-Ro±anti-La antibody-exposed infants. Data suggest in utero exposure to hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) may prevent cardiac NL. The aim was to assess whether in utero exposure to HCQ decreases the risk of cNL and/or delays onset. METHODS: A multicentre case-control study was performed with 122 cNL cases and 434 controls born to women with a rheumatological disease who had documentation of maternal anti-Ro±anti-La antibodies at pregnancy and confirmation of medication use and the child's outcome. A secondary analysis was performed on 262 cNL cases, irrespective of maternal diagnosis, to determine if HCQ delayed time to cNL onset. RESULTS: Twenty (16%) cNL cases were exposed to HCQ compared with 146 (34%) controls (OR 0.4 (95% CI 0.2 to 0.6); p<0.01). Exposure to HCQ was associated with a reduced risk of cNL; exposure to anti-La antibody and female gender were associated with an increased risk of cNL. Exposure to HCQ remained significantly associated with a reduced cNL risk in the analyses limited to mothers with systemic lupus erythematosus and those who developed rash ≤1 month. When analysing all 262 cNL cases, HCQ-exposed infants were older (6.0 (95% CI 5.7 to 6.3) weeks) at cNL onset versus HCQ-non-exposed infants (4.4 (95% CI 3.9 to 5.0) weeks), but the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.21). CONCLUSION: Exposure to HCQ was associated with a reduced risk of cNL. Among cNL cases, those exposed to HCQ tend to have later onset of rash. Both findings suggest a protective effect of HCQ on cNL.

Association of Natural Killer Cell Ligand Polymorphism HLA-C Asn80Lys With the Development of Anti-SSA/Ro-Associated Congenital Heart Block.

OBJECTIVE: Fetal exposure to maternal anti-SSA/Ro antibodies is necessary but not sufficient for the development of autoimmune congenital heart block (CHB), suggesting that other factors, such as fetal genetic predisposition, are important. Given the previously described association between major histocompatibility complex alleles and CHB risk, we undertook the present study to test the hypothesis that a variant form of HLA-C Asn80Lys, which binds with high affinity to an inhibitory killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) and thus renders natural killer (NK) cells incapable of restricting inflammation, contributes to the development of CHB. METHODS: Members of 192 pedigrees in the US and Europe (194 cases of CHB, 91 unaffected siblings, 152 fathers, 167 mothers) and 1,073 out-of-study controls were genotyped on the Immunochip single-nucleotide polymorphism microarray. Imputation was used to identify associations at HLA-C Asn80Lys (Asn, C1; Lys, C2) and KIR. Tests for association were performed using logistic regression. McNemar's test and the pedigree disequilibrium test (PDT) were used for matched analyses between affected and unaffected children. RESULTS: Compared with out-of-study controls of the same sex, the C2 allele was less frequent in the mothers (odds ratio [OR] 0.63, P = 0.0014) and more frequent in the fathers (OR 1.40, P = 0.0123), yielding a significant sex-by-C2 interaction (P = 0.0002). The C2 allele was more frequent in affected siblings than in unaffected siblings (OR 3.67, P = 0.0025), which was consistent with the PDT results (P = 0.016); these results were observed in both sexes and across the US and European cohorts. There was no difference in the frequency of the inhibitory KIR genotype (KIR AA) between affected and unaffected children (P = 0.55). CONCLUSION: These data establish C2 as a novel genetic risk factor associated with CHB. This observation supports a model in which fetuses with C2 ligand expression and maternal anti-SSA/Ro positivity may have impaired NK cell surveillance, resulting in unchecked cardiac inflammation and scarring.

Incidence, risk factors, and mortality of neonatal and late-onset dilated cardiomyopathy associated with cardiac neonatal lupus.

BACKGROUND: Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a well-known complication of cardiac neonatal lupus, is associated with high mortality rate. Its risk factors remain unclear. METHODS: We analyzed occurrence of postnatal DCM among children with high-degree congenital heart block (CHB) and mothers with anti-SSA and/or anti-SSB antibodies. RESULTS: Among 187 neonates with CHB, 35 (18.8%, one missing data) had DCM and 22 (11.8%) died during a median follow-up of 7years [range: birth-36years]. On multivariate analysis, factors associated with postnatal DCM were in utero DCM (P=0.0199; HR=3.13 [95% CI: 1.20-8.16]), non-European origin (P=0.0052; HR=4.10 [95% CI: 1.81-9.28]) and pacemaker implantation (P=0.0013; HR=5.48 [95% CI: 1.94-15.47]). Postnatal DCM could be categorized in two subgroups: neonatal DCM (n=13, diagnosed at a median age of 0day [birth-4days]) and late-onset DCM (n=22, diagnosed at a median age of 15.2months [3.6months-22.8years]). Factors associated with neonatal DCM were in utero DCM, hydrops, endocardial fibroelastosis and pericardial effusion, whereas those associated with late-onset DCM were non-European origin, in utero mitral valve insufficiency, and pacemaker implantation. Fluorinated steroids showed no protective effect against late-onset DCM (P=0.27; HR=1.65 [95% CI: 0.63-4.25]). Probability of survival at 10years was 23.1% for newborns diagnosed neonatally with DCM, 53.9% for those who developed late-onset DCM, and 98.6% for those without DCM. CONCLUSION: Neonatal and late-onset DCM appear to be two different entities. None of the known risk factors associated with neonatal DCM predicted late-onset DCM. Long-term follow-up of cardiac function is warranted in all children with CHB.

Description of 214 cases of autoimmune congenital heart block: Results of the French neonatal lupus syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac neonatal lupus syndrome is due to anti-SSA or SSB antibodies and mainly includes congenital heart block (CHB) and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Its optimal management is still debated. We report a large series of autoimmune high degree CHB. METHODS: Inclusion criteria in this retrospective study were fetuses or neonates with high-degree CHB associated with maternal anti-SSA/SSB antibodies. RESULTS: 214 CHB were included: 202 detected in utero at a median term of 23 weeks' gestation (WG) [range 16 to 39 WG] and 12 neonatal cases diagnosed at a median age of 0 days [range birth to 8 days]. The 214 cases of CHB included 202 (94.4%) third-degree CHB, 8 (3.7%) second-degree CHB, and 4 (1.9%) intermittent CHB. In multivariate analysis, the factors associated with feto-neonatal deaths (15.7%) were hydrops (p<0.001; hazard ratio [HR] 12.4 [95% confidence interval (95%CI) 4.7-32.7]) and prematurity (p=0.002; HR 17.1 [95%CI 2.8-103.1]). During a median follow-up of 7 years [birth to 36 years], 148 of 187 children born alive (79.1%) had a pacemaker, 35 (18.8%, one missing data) had DCM, and 22 (11.8%) died. In multivariate analysis, factors associated with child death were in utero DCM (p=0.0157; HR 6.37 [95%CI: 1.25-32.44]), postnatal DCM (p<0.0001; HR 227.58[95%CI: 24.33-2128.46]) and pacemaker implantation (p=0.0035; HR 0.11[95%CI: 0.02-0.51]). The use of fluorinated steroids was neither associated with survival nor with regression of 2nd degree CHB. CONCLUSION: In this second largest series of CHB, we confirm some of the previous results. We were unable to find data supporting the routine use of in utero fluorinated steroids.

Catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome and pregnancy: an experience of 13 cases.

OBJECTIVE: Catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome (CAPS) is a life-threatening disease caused by the onset of rapidly progressive and widespread small-vessel thromboses in the presence of aPLs. The aim of this study was to examine pregnancy-related CAPS. METHODS: Retrospective series of 13 patients with pregnancy-related CAPS with special focus on the follow-up. RESULTS; Eleven patients had known APS and had been treated with low-molecular-weight heparin (n = 10), aspirin (n = 8), oral anticoagulants (n = 1), HCQ (n = 3) and/or steroids (n = 1) during pregnancy. The most frequent manifestations of CAPS were cutaneous (n = 11), hepatic (n = 11), renal (n = 10), cardiac (n = 8) and neurological (n = 5). CAPS usually followed haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelet count (HELLP) syndrome (n = 12), which was associated with pre-eclampsia (n = 6) or with eclampsia (n = 3). No maternal death was observed. The perinatal mortality of 54% was related to prematurity with a mean gestational age of 26.6 weeks at onset of CAPS or HELLP syndrome. During a mean follow-up of 4.8 years (range 2-8 years), seven new pregnancies occurred in five patients and led to one miscarriage, four successful pregnancies and two HELLP syndrome with pre-eclampsia or eclampsia that occurred at 28 weeks gestation in both cases despite optimal treatment. No relapse of CAPS was observed. Two mothers suddenly died 2.5 and 6 years after CAPS. CONCLUSION: The occurrence of HELLP syndrome in a patient with APS should raise the suspicion of CAPS in the following days, and anticoagulation should be maintained post-partum or post-abortum. Subsequent pregnancies are at very high risk.