CASE REPORTS Familial Congenital Complete Heart Block and Maternal Systemic Lupus Erythematosis

FAMILIAL COMPLETE HEART BLOCK (CHB) has been described by a number of observers since the report by Morquio' in 1901. Among those reported are thirteen families with multiple cases of well-documented congenital CHB2-14 using the classic criteria of Yater'5 and eliminating those with intracardiac defects. More recently, an association has been noted between congenital CHB and maternal connective tissue disease (CTD), particularly systemic lupus erythematosis (SLE).'2 We would like to report a kindred revealing a genetic-environmental interaction between the above factors, which has not been noted in the medical literature. Previously reported cases of familial block will be analyzed in the light of this new information.