Fetal cardiofibroelastosis - a consequence of anti-Ro maternal transfer during pregnancy. Case report and review of the literature

Abstract

With scarcely any reports published on the association of fetal endocardial fibroelastosis and Ro antibodies maternal transfer during pregnancy, this subject continues to raise concern among health care providers around the world, especially when neonatal lupus syndrome is taken into consideration as the main diagnosis. Fetuses with congenital atrioventricular block have a risk of intrauterine fetal demise and the concern comes from a variety of factors that show significant association between the presence of maternal antibodies to SS-A/Ro during pregnancy and their children serum level of these antibodies. Nevertheless, fetal endocardial fibroelastosis plays an important role in altering ventricular diastolic function and ventricular development in children and neonates. Methods. Medical literature was searched on PubMed and Medline using key words such as fetal endocardial fibroelastosis, anti-Ro antibodies in pregnancy and neonatal lupus syndrome and over 200 articles were taken into consideration, with 17 of them included in the final review. The clinical case included in this paper was referred to the Department of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Filantropia Clinical Hospital in Bucharest, during the second pregnancy after a first pregnancy that resulted in stillbirth with congenital heart block and fibroelastosis as a result of the maternal diagnosis of Sjogren’s syndrome with transplacental transfer of SS-A/Ro antibodies.

Keywords

• fetal endocardial fibroelastosis
• anti-ro antibodies
• pregnancy
• neonatal lupus syndrome