Case records of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Weekly clinicopathological exercises. Case 38-1997. Inflammation of the ears, anemia, and fever 21 years after treatment for Hodgkin's disease

Intermittent fever and cough in a 56-year-old patient: Relapsing polychondritis and extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma

Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a rare autoimmune disease in which recurrent and progressive chondritis occurs throughout the body. We report a case of a 56-year-old female subject presented as intermittent fever and cough, who was found obvious luminal stenosis and intense ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in her larynx and trachea via bronchoscopy and FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). The auricular cartilage biopsy demonstrated chondritis. At first she was diagnosed as RP and treated by glucocorticoid and methotrexate, leading to completely response. Fever and cough recurred after 18 months, and FDG PET/CT were performed again and targeted a newfound nasopharyngeal lesion, where the biopsy proved to be an extranodal natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type.

Bilateral Nodular Episcleritis: A Rare Presentation of Relapsing Polychondritis

Herein, the authors report a case of relapsing polychondritis (RP) presenting as isolated bilateral nodular episcleritis. A 23-year-old male presented to us with bilateral large ocular surface masses for which he had received antitubercular medications. A workup was performed to rule out infective, neoplastic, and immune etiologies, after which the patient was then treated empirically with systemic steroids. No response to steroids was noted, so the lesions were removed surgically. On follow up, he developed redness of both ears sparing the lobules. A biopsy from ear lesions supported the diagnosis of RP. At a follow up of 2 years, the patient is free of any ocular or systemic manifestation. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first reported case of RP presenting with bilateral giant nodular episcleritis and treated successfully with surgery. A multidisciplinary approach is essential for the management of such cases. A long-term close follow up is vital for early detection of associated malignancies like multiple myeloma.

Relapsing polychondritis in Singapore: a case series and review of literature

INTRODUCTION

This study aimed to describe the clinical presentation, treatment and outcome of patients with relapsing polychondritis (RP) who were seen at a large tertiary-care academic medical institution in Singapore.

METHODS

The medical records of all patients diagnosed with RP at the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore, between 2005 and 2013 were reviewed. The diagnosis of RP was made using the modified McAdam criteria.

RESULTS

Ten patients were diagnosed with RP during the study period. Among these patients, five fulfilled the modified McAdam criteria and five were probable cases of RP. The most common clinical presentations were auricular chondritis (n = 9), episcleritis or scleritis (n = 5), and large airway involvement (n = 3). All of the patients received prednisolone. Five patients developed haematological disorders. Patients with both RP and haematological disorders had a longer duration of RP symptoms prior to diagnosis, compared to patients with RP who did not develop haematological disorders (average duration of symptoms 14.7 months vs. 4.2 months).

CONCLUSION

The high frequency of patients with haematological malignancies in this series was unexpected. Myelodysplastic syndrome has been reported, but other haematological malignancies are rarely associated with RP. As the association between haematological malignancies and RP is currently unclear, the threshold for haematological/lymphoproliferative screening should be lowered in patients with RP.