Polychondritis With Diminished Hearing(Case Report)

Abstract

Introduction: Relapsing polychondritis is a rare autoimmune disorder which is associated with inflammation of the auricular and costochondral cartilages and may involve ocular tissue and laryngotracheobronchial tree in some occasions. This inflammatory destructive disease can potentially disrupt the structure, function and integration of cartilages. The common age of involvement is 40 to 60 years and it is similar in both genders. Case report: The patient was a 65 year-old woman referred to the cardiovascular center, with chief complaint of sudden severe chest pain. She was hospitalized with the diagnosis of unstable angina but all of the cardiovascular investigations were normal. After a few days, she developed headache, fever, nasal congestion and redness. Computed tomography scan was done with the probability of sinus involvement but it was normal. At the same time, she developed cartilage involvement as a redness and auricular pain (sparing the lobule). Subsequently her hearing progressively diminished. She was hospitalized in the rheumatology ward and treated as a polychondritis.