Neonatal Lupus erythematosus Following Rheumatoid Arthritis: Case Report and Literature Review

BACKGROUND Neonatal lupus erythematosus (NLE) is a transient autoimmune disease of developing fetus and neonate in mothers with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In this report we introduce an infant with NLE whose mother had rheumatoid arthritis. CASE PRESENTATION Our case was a 40 day old male infant with discoid-like and annular skin lesions over forehead and neck, irritability and low grade fever. There was a history of prematurity due to preeclampsia. There was no cytopenia or cardiac involvement but liver enzymes were more than 5-fold increased. FANA, Anti Ro and La were negative. The mother had a history of un-controlled rheumatoid arthritis for 12 years with deformity in metacarpal and PIP and ulnar deviation in hands. FANA=1/640 and anti-SSB/La was positive in the mother but there was no other clinical and paraclinical sign of SLE. Without any treatment and during months, the skin and mucosal lesions gradually disappeared without any scar and liver enzymes reached the normal level. After 6 months follow up, he was symptom free with normal growth and development. CONCLUSION We recommend to check anti SSA/Ro and anti SSB/La antibodies in all pregnant women with connective tissue diseases to prevent life-threatening involvement of the infant.