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FRIDAY, July 17, 2020 (HealthDay News)<\/p>\n
A drug used to treat lupus<\/a> and malaria<\/a> — hydroxychloroquine<\/a> — reduced by half the risk of a potentially fatal heart<\/a> condition in newborns who were at high risk for it.<\/p>\n The condition — known as congenital heart block<\/a> (CHB) — results in a dangerously low heart<\/a> rate.<\/p>\n “Our study shows hydroxychloroquine<\/a> as the first, safe, and highly effective drug for preventing pregnant<\/a> women at risk from having another child with congenital heart block<\/a>,” said lead author and rheumatologist<\/a> Dr. Peter Izmirly, associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health in New York City.<\/p>\n Congenital heart block affects as many as 1 in 15,000 live births. About 75% of babies<\/a> who survive it will require at least one pacemaker<\/a> during their lifetime, and some may need a heart transplant<\/a>.<\/p>\n CHB occurs when a pregnant<\/a> woman’s immune system attacks the heart of her fetus. In about half of cases, the mother has an autoimmune condition such as systemic lupus erythematosus<\/a> or Sjogren<\/a>‘s syndrome.<\/p>\n CHB is linked to antibodies in the mother that react with other proteins called SSA\/Ro. For mothers with these antibodies, the risk of a baby with heart block is 2%, but it increases ninefold if a previous pregnancy<\/a> resulted in CHB.<\/p>\n For newborns, a normal resting heart rate is 120 to 160 beats a minute. A heart rate below 50 beats a minute can be fatal.<\/p>\n This study included 54 U.S. women who previously had a newborn<\/a> affected by CHB. Starting in their first trimester<\/a>, the women received 400 milligrams of hydroxychloroquine a day.<\/p>\n Overall, 7.9% of newborns born to women taking hydroxychloroquine had CHB, compared to the historical rate of 18%, according to the study published online July 13 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology<\/i>.<\/p>\n Senior author Jill Buyon, director of the Division of Rheumatology<\/a> at NYU Langone, said testing for anti-SSA\/Ro antibodies should be considered. It is not part of a woman’s normal screening during pregnancy<\/a>.<\/p>\n “One implication of our findings is that hydroxychloroquine could be effective in preventing CHB in newborns of first-time, pregnant women with anti-SSA\/Ro antibodies, which could change the way we evaluate all pregnancies<\/a> regardless of a mother’s health,” Buyon said in an NYU news release.<\/p>\n — Robert Preidt<\/p>\n![\"MedicalNews\"](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/HealthDay\/healthday.png\")
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