Relapsing polychondritis complicated by cognitive dysfunction: two distinct clinical phenotypes?

Relapsing polychondritis: state-of-the-art review with three case presentations

BACKGROUND

Relapsing polychondritis (RPC) is a complex immune-mediated systemic disease affecting cartilaginous tissue and proteoglycan-rich organs. The most common and earliest clinical features are intermittent inflammation involving the auricular and nasal regions, although all cartilage types can be potentially affected. The life-threatening effects of rpc involve the tracheobronchial tree and cardiac connective components. Rpc is difficult to identify among other autoimmune comorbidities; diagnosis is usually delayed and based on nonspecific clinical symptoms with limited laboratory aid and investigations. Medications can vary, from steroids, immunosuppressants, and biologics, including anti-tnf alpha antagonist drugs.

METHOD

Information on updated etiology, clinical symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of rpc has been obtained via extensive research of electronic literature published between 1976 and 2019 using PubMed and medline databases. English was the language of use. Search inputs included 'relapsing polychondritis,' 'polychondritis,' 'relapsing polychondritis symptoms,' and 'treatment of relapsing polychondritis.' Published articles in English that outlined and reported rpc's clinical manifestations and treatment ultimately met the inclusion criteria. Articles that failed to report the above and reported on other cartilaginous diseases met the exclusion criteria.

RESULT

Utilizing an extensive overview of work undertaken in critical areas of RPC research, this review intends to further explore and educate the approach to this disease in all dimensions from pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management.

CONCLUSION

RPC is a rare multi-systemic autoimmune disease and possibly fatal. The management remains empiric and is identified based on the severity of the disease per case. The optimal way to advance is to continue sharing data on RPC from reference centers; furthermore, clinical trials in randomized control groups must provide evidence-based treatment and management. Acquiring such information will refine the current knowledge of RPC, which will improve not only treatment but also diagnostic methods, including imaging and biological markers.

Elucidation of predictors of disease progression in patients with relapsing polychondritis at the onset: potential impact on patient monitoring

Background

In patients with relapsing polychondritis (RP), organ involvement developed in those with progressive and/or long disease courses. For their management, elucidation of a subgroup suggesting disease progression is awaited.

Methods

We previously conducted a physician’s questionnaire-based retrospective study to elucidate major clinical features of Japanese patients with RP. We here evaluated organ involvement at disease onset and at the last follow-up. We then counted cumulative numbers of involved organs at the last follow-up in 229 RP patients and compared them with involved organ numbers at disease onset, as possible indicators of disease progression. We assigned their prognosis at the last follow-up into “patient prognostic stages” from no medication (stage 1) to death (stage 5). We utilized nonparametric tests for group comparisons.

Results

Involved organ numbers per-patient were 1.13 ± 0.03 at disease onset and 3.25 ± 0.10 at the last follow-up (disease duration was 4.69 ± 0.33 years), and increased along with the patient prognostic stages.

At disease onset, 135 and 48 patients had auricular involvement (59% of 229 patients, defined as auricular-onset subgroup; AO) and respiratory involvement (21%, respiratory-onset subgroup; RO), respectively. 46 patients presented with other conditions (20%, miscellaneous-onset subgroup; MO) including CNS, ocular, and inner ear involvement, among others.

RO patients showed worse (poorer) prognostic stages than AO patients. MO patients developed respiratory and/or auricular involvement thereafter and then showed significantly higher mortality rate (15%; 7/46) than AO patients (5.9%; 8/135).

In RP patients who did not develop respiratory involvement until the last follow-up (throughout the disease course; 117 patients), mortality rate was 19% in 26 MO patients and 3.3% in 91 AO patients. Accordingly, RO patients and MO patients associated with relatively poor prognosis compared with AO patients.

Conclusions

Allocation of patients to RO and MO subgroups was suggested to associate with poorer prognosis of RP than AO subgroups, especially AO subgroups without respiratory involvement throughout. All RP patients deserve careful monitoring but special attention should be paid to MO patients because of their diverse and accelerated disease progression.

Limbic encephalitis with relapsing polychondritis: persistent white matter lesions and brain atrophy

Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a rare autoimmune disorder affecting cartilage. Limbic encephalitis is a rare central nervous system manifestation of RP. This current case report describes a 66-year-old Chinese male patient who complained of developing myoclonus in the left leg, ataxia and speech difficulties 3 weeks prior to hospital admission. The patient presented with cognitive impairment, sleep disorder and extrapyramidal symptoms. The patient was diagnosed with RP that affected auricular cartilage, which also manifested as limbic encephalitis. Magnetic resonance imaging showed bilateral temporal lobe lesions involving the hippocampi and basal ganglia. Signal abnormalities in the white matter persisted during the 15-month follow-up period after treatment with corticosteroids and intravenous immunoglobulin. Over the same period, the bilateral hippocampi showed significant atrophy.

Clinicopathological case: rapid cognitive decline and myoclonus associated with fever, arthropathy and scleritis

A 65-year-old man presented with transient neurological symptoms, followed by rapid cognitive decline, myoclonus and fevers. He had evidence of scleritis and an arthropathy. This paper reports the clinicopathological conference discussed at the Association of British Neurologists Annual Meeting 2017.

Relapsing Polychondritis: An Updated Review

Relapsing polychondritis is an immune-mediated systemic disease characterized by recurrent episodes of inflammation of cartilaginous and proteoglycan-rich tissues, resulting in progressive anatomical deformation and functional impairment of the involved structures. Auricular and nasal chondritis and/or polyarthritis represent the most common clinical features, but potentially all types of cartilage may be involved. Because of the pleomorphic nature of the disease, with non-specific symptoms at the onset, the diagnosis of relapsing polychondritis is often delayed. In this review article we provide a comprehensive look into clinical presentation, laboratory and instrumental investigations, diagnostic criteria, and therapeutic options.

Relapsing polychondritis: A clinical update

Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a rare connective tissue disease in which recurrent bouts of inflammation, involve the cartilage of the ears, nose, larynx, tracheobronchial tree and cardiovascular system. RP is generally observed in the fourth and fifth decades of life and occurs with equal frequency in both sexes. The cause of RP is still unknown. It is considered an immune-mediated disease, as there is an overlap between well documented RP with other rheumatic and autoimmune diseases. There is a significant association of RP with the antigen HLA-DR4. RP includes loss of basophilic staining of cartilage matrix perichondral accompanied by inflammation of the cartilage. Cells are present perivascular mononuclear and polymorphonuclear cells infiltrated. The chondrocytes become vacuolated and necrotic and are replaced by fibrous tissue. Common symptoms are often absent in the early stages of the disease in almost half the cases, resulting in delay in diagnosis. The development of chondrite allows the diagnosis of RP in patients initially evaluated for joint abnormalities, ocular, cutaneous, or audio-vestibular. Diagnostic criteria for RP are based on characteristic clinical manifestations. According to Damiani and Levine, the diagnosis can be considered final when one or more of the clinical features are present in conjunction with biopsy confirmation. The course of symptoms for patients with relapsing polychondritis is often unpredictable. Patients with mild signs of acute inflammation are usually treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and small doses of prednisone. Patients with severe manifestations, such as airway compromise may require high doses of prednisone or even intravenous pulse methyl-prednisone.