Lupus Erythematosus-Like Lesions in Newborn Infants

Clinical and laboratory studies were done in a newborn infant with congenital lupus erythematosus (LE)-like lesions and her mother. Direct immunofluorescence examination and electron microscopical search for paramyxovirus in such congenital cutaneous lesions, reported here for the first time, to our knowledge, were both negative. Laboratory examinations for connective tissue diseases, including sensitized sheep cell agglutination, antinuclear factor, and LE preparations were negative. The lesions started to resolve spontaneously by the time the infant was 4 months of age, leaving minimal atrophy, telangiectasia, and pigmentary changes. The mother has had persistently elevated rheumatoid factor titers with no clinical manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis and no evidence of LE. However, she has multiple dermatofibromas. The spontaneous resolution of the cutaneous lesions in this infant documents the benign nature and good prognosis of this disorder. Mothers of such affected newborns, however, have a high risk of developing systemic connective tissue diseases.