In some cases the reason behind<unk>  remains unknown but in the great majority of affected kids, this disease is associated with the transference of autoantibodies from the mother during gestation or with major cardiac structural abnormalities that lead to a disturbance in the conducting signals in the atrioventricular node. Also, in some rare cases, the<unk>  was linked with viral infections or treatment with specific medications. Maternal autoimmune disease In the autoimmune-mediated<unk> , autoantibodies are passively transferred through the placenta during gestation. The mother might be asymptomatic during or after pregnancy but she is usually positive to anti-Ro\SSA or anti-La\SSB antibodies. In this case, the fetus's<unk>  is normally developed and shows no structural malformations. Just like other autoimmune diseases, the autoimmune<unk>  shows signs of damage resulted from the autoantibodies attacking the normal tissue of the body, inflammation and fibrosis in the fetal<unk>  tissue are the most common ones, mainly in the atrioventricular node. These antibodies lead to irreversible injuries in the atrioventricular node which heavily compromise the efficiency of the electrical conduction system, and this results in around 18% mortality rate and 70% of the live-born kids will need early pacemaker implantation. Anti-Ro\SSA autoantibody This autoantibody is found in the serum of the majority of kids with autoimmune<unk> , and therefore it is the one mostly linked with this disease. It attacks the proteins Ro52 and Ro60 in the antigen Ro\SSA in the fetal<unk>  tissue. Anti-La\SSB autoantibody This antibody attacks the ribonucleoprotein La48 on the surface of the fetal cardiomyocytes, the links between this autoantibody and autoimmune<unk>  are less strong than the anti-Ro autoantibody and it usually accompanies it in the majority of cases.Although the autoimmune<unk>  has a relatively high mortality and morbidity rates, the chance of kids from -mothers positive to anti-Ro\SSA and/or anti-La\SSB antibodies- to suffer from<unk>  is only around 1-5%, which suggests the existence of other factors to influence the disease such as genetic and environmental factors. Other autoantibodies Several autoantibodies were suggested to have links with the autoimmune<unk> , mainly the ones associated with the different autoimmune diseases that are common among women (such as the antibodies associated with Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Rheumatoid arthritis, Progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS), and Mixed connective tissue disease). However, the role of these autoantibodies was not studied comprehensively. Also, some antigens of the fetal<unk>  tissue (apart from the "Ro" and the "La") were studied, but no clear link with the autoimmune<unk>  was proven.<unk>  cardiac structural abnormalities The presence of a cardiac structural abnormality is a major determination of the outcome of<unk> . Its existence affects the conduction system of the<unk>  and increases the mortality rate and the need for pace-maker implantation. The cardiac structural diseases that are usually associated with the<unk>  include the left atrial isomerism with or without atrioventricular septal defect. In addition, levo transpositions of the great arteries can accompany<unk>  but this is less common than the first one. These developmental abnormalities can impair the conduction system of the<unk>  by disrupting its anatomical structure.
Congenital heart block
Ectopic pacemaker
Cyanotic heart defect
Acyanotic heart defect
Cardiac myxoma
Heart valve dysplasia
Primary tumors of the heart
Broken Heart