Risk to newborns and mothers with anti-SSA/Ro autoantibodies

We studied 5 infants born to 4 women who had anti-SSA/Ro autoantibodies. Four infants had cutaneous lupus lesions, or transient elevated liver enzyme levels, or both. No infants had congenital heart block, but one had complex structural cardiac defects. No anti-SSA/Ro positive mothers had exacerbation or precipitation of systemic lupus erythematosus during the period of gestation and puerperium. Taken together, these findings confirm the association of anti-SSA/Ro antibodies with neonatal lupus and indicate that structural cardiac defects might be an infrequent but life-threatening symptom of neonatal lupus syndrome.