Neonatal Lupus Erythematosus Syndrome-Reply

In Reply.—  Neonatal lupus erythematosus (NLE) is a relatively recently described syndrome¹ manifesting two major clinical features (congenital heart block and/or lupus dermatitis), several minor clinical features (including thrombocytopenia in 10% of those observed), and a serologic marker, the Ro antibody system (SSA). While definitive criteria for the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus exists, this is not the case for the more recently described NLE syndrome.The object of our report was to stress evaluation of infants with thrombocytopenia of undetermined cause, and their mothers, for Ro antibody. We stressed the absence of the two major features of NLE and the presence of the Ro antibody system in our two infants. Our report "suggests that thrombocytopenia in our patients is a manifestation of the NLE syndrome."The authors felt it presumptive to make the diagnosis of NLE in the absence of complete heart block and lupus dermatitis. Our experience in