Atrioventricular heart block and syncope coincident with diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus

Abstract

We describe a 59-year-old woman with cardiac conduction abnormalities caused by lupus-induced myocardial damage. She had a history of arthralgias and antinuclear antibodies but no clinical history of systemic lupus erythematosus. She presented with syncope and Mobitz type II second-degree atrioventricular block. Anti-double-stranded DNA antibodies developed coincident with the identification of heart block. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging showed late enhancing foci of gadolinium uptake that anatomically correlated with her conduction abnormalities. We conclude that her conduction disease represents an early and structural cardiac manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus that is unusual in its presentation at the time of initial diagnosis.