Neonatal lupus erythematosus with congenital heart block associated with maternal systemic lupus erythematosus.

We report the presence of complete heart block in a girl whose mother has anti-Ro antibodies and is suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus with Sjögren's syndrome. HLA antigens studies in the two patients support the hypothesis described recently that HLA DR3 is responsible for the production of anti-Ro antibodies and not for the phenotypic expression of the tissue injury.