Inflammatory Erythema and Atrophy of Auricular Cartilage as a Sign of Relap-sing Polychondritis

Overview

Authors describe a case of 71-year-old female patient with a prolonged history of recurrent fever,weight loss, depression, vertigo, tinnitus, polyarthritis, conjunctivitis, hypacusis and general fatigue.The symptom first observed was an inflammatory erythema of the left auricle, resulting in theatrophy and deformation of the auricle cartilage. The clinical symptoms supported the diagnosis ofrelapsing polychondritis, which was finally verified by histology. The authors consider the observedassociation of relapsing polychondritis with aseptic meningitis, cerebro-spinal fluid pleocytosis tobe rare and interesting.The patient’s symptoms were markedly improved after the systemic corticosteroid therapy.

Key words:
relapsing polychondritis - arthritis - aseptic meningitis - CSF pleocytosis - hearing