BLOQUEIO AURÍCULO VENTRICULAR CONGÉNITO - DO DIAGNÓSTICO AO TRATAMENTO

Abstract

The congenital atrioventricular block (CAVB), thus classified when diagnosed in útero, at birth or during the first month of life, is a rare pathology with an estimated incidence variable between 1/15000 and 1/22000 live births. It is now accepted that the pathophysiology inherent to this condition is predominantly associated with an immunologically mediated response to the conduction system, which occurs due to transplacental passage of maternal autoantibodies from diagnosed mothers, in most cases, with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) or Sjorgen's Syndrome (SS). Fetal echocardiography continues to be the gold-standard diagnosis, however there are other techniques with good results and advantages over the first. Regarding the therapeutics, both the pharmacological strategies and the techniques of cardiac stimulation have evolved to increase the safety of procedures, decrease associated mortality and morbidity and promote a higher quality of life for patients, despite the fact that there are divergences in deciding the best therapeutic plan. Therefore, this review aims at taking into account the most recent literature, the summary and clarification of the best diagnostic approach as well as the best therapeutic strategies. Methods: A search was performed on Pubmed and Science Direct databases, of published and accepted articles for publication. The following search terms were used: "Congenital atrioventricular block ", "Neonatal lupus", "Pacemaker", "Pathophysiology", "Electrophysiology", "Prenatal diagnosis". Articles written in Portuguese and English languages were selected. No time constraints were used. Repeated articles were excluded from the two databases. Key-words: Congenital atrioventricular block; Neonatal lupus; Pacemaker; Pathophysiology; Prenatal diagnosis.