Abstract
Congenital heart block (CHB) is a conduction abnormality that affects hearts of foetuses and/or newborn to mothers with autoantibodies reactive with the intracellular soluble ribonucleoproteins 48-kD La, 52-kD Ro and 60-kD Ro. CHB carries substantial mortality and morbidity, with more than 60% of affected children requiring lifelong pacemakers. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the pathogenesis of CHB. These can be grouped under three main hypotheses: Apoptosis, Serotoninergic and Ca channel hypothesis. Here, we discuss these hypotheses and provide recent scientific thinking that will most likely dominate the future of this field of research.
Publication types
-
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
-
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
-
Review
MeSH terms
-
Animals
-
Apoptosis / immunology
-
Autoantibodies / immunology
-
Calcium Channels, L-Type / immunology*
-
Calcium Channels, L-Type / metabolism*
-
Female
-
Heart Block / congenital*
-
Heart Block / etiology*
-
Heart Block / immunology*
-
Heart Block / pathology
-
Humans
-
Infant, Newborn
-
Infant, Newborn, Diseases / etiology*
-
Infant, Newborn, Diseases / immunology
-
Infant, Newborn, Diseases / metabolism*
-
Infant, Newborn, Diseases / pathology
-
Maternal-Fetal Exchange / immunology
-
Models, Biological*
-
Pregnancy
-
Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT4 / immunology
Substances
-
Autoantibodies
-
Calcium Channels, L-Type
-
Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT4