Abstract
Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a rare systemic inflammatory disorder having predilection for cartilaginous structures specially ears, nose, joints and respiratory tract. Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is an established association. Here we describe case history of a 60-year-old man who had episodic pain involving left external ear, throat and nose, hearing difficulty and lethargy for six months and right sided facial weakness of recent onset. He was anaemic, his left ear was distorted and there was right facial palsy. Investigations revealed him to be a case of RP in association with MDS. His pain and facial palsy improved with prednisolone.J MEDICINE July 2015; 16 (2) : 124-127
Highlights
Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a disease of unknown etiology and is characterized by cartilage inflammation. It was first described by Jaksch-Wartenhorst in 1923 and the term “Relapsing Polychondritis” was adopted in 1960.1,2 RP can be isolated or secondary to malignancy, connective tissue diseases or other autoimmune diseases.[3,4]
Bone marrow findings were consistent with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS); refractory anaemia with multilineage dysplasia (Fig 3a-d)
By literature search we found few cases of RP who first presented with facial palsy.[7,8,9]
Summary
Introduction Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a disease of unknown etiology and is characterized by cartilage inflammation. We describe a case of RP who first presented to us because of facial palsy. Case Report A 60-year-old man presented with right sided facial weakness for 3 days. He had 6 month history of recurrent episodes of pain and swelling of left pinna, each episode persisted for 35 days and responded to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
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