Transient Congenital Complete Heart Block: A Case Report

Abstract

Congenital complete heart block is defined as a complete atrioventricular block occurring prenatally, at birth, or within the first month of life. Congenital complete heart block has a high mortality rate, and in infants with normal heart morphology, it is often associated with maternal connective tissue disease. In these latter cases, neonatal congenital complete heart block is usually irreversible. We present a rare case of a female neonate who had bradycardia noted at a gestational age of 37 weeks. Her mother had no autoimmune disease history. She had no structural heart disease, and the serology surveys for autoantibodies including SSA/Ro and SSB/La were all negative. Without intervention or medication, her congenital complete heart block completely recovered to a normal sinus rhythm within 5 days. The cause of the transient congenital complete heart block was unknown in this case.

Spontaneous recovery of isolated advanced heart block in patient with celiac disease by starting a strict gluten free diet: a case report and review of the literature

“…A few case reports in the literature demonstrated a spontaneous recovery of advanced heart block without treatment. One case report involved an infant who had a complete congenital heart block in the third trimester spontaneously reverting to a normal sinus rhythm 5 days after birth without intervention or medication [ 27 ] . Kitazawa et al reported a case of advanced atrioventricular block in the patient without any comorbidities after gynaecological surgery that may have been triggered by postoperative nausea, with spontaneous recovery [ 28 ] .…”

Unusual course of congenital complete heart block in an adult: A case report

“…In recent decades, the indication for pacing has widened, and it is estimated that 65%-90% of CCHB patients are treated with a pacemaker[ 17 ]. Of chief concern, pacemaker implantation is not a risk-free procedure, and fracture, repeated battery replacement, infection, and particularly pacemaker-induced heart failure are stubborn issues[ 18 - 20 ]. Over the years, pacing strategies have evolved from traditional right ventricular pacing to cardiac resynchronization therapy and, more recently, to the introduction of epicardial pacing and His bundle pacing because of their potential benefits in mitigating ventricular dys-synchrony and mechanical adverse remodeling[ 17 ].…”

Newborns with congenital complete heart block: Advice for perinatal care providers

“…Congenital complete heart block (CCHB) is an abnormality of the cardiac impulse conduction system diagnosed on or before 28 days of life. 1 It has an incidence of 1 in 15,000–22,000 live births. 1 It is found to be associated with passive maternal autoimmune disease in 50% of cases.…”

“…1 It has an incidence of 1 in 15,000–22,000 live births. 1 It is found to be associated with passive maternal autoimmune disease in 50% of cases. 2 Neonatal lupus erythematosus (NLE) is one such disease that typically presents with transient skin rash, cardiac involvement in the form of cardiac conduction disturbances, hepatobiliary, haematological, pulmonary and neurological abnormalities.…”