Relapsing polychondritis can present with inflammation at cartilaginous sites including the ears and nose. The clinical features at each location are distinct and inform the assessment and treatment approach.
Auricular chondritis — one of the main manifestations of relapsing polychondritis — involves inflammatory changes to the cartilage of the ears, most often the helix. Characteristically, the lobule (which contains no cartilage) is spared.
Nasal chondritis typically presents with pain, sometimes intense, at the root of the nose — the junction between the nasal bone and the nasal cartilage.
DOI: 10.1016/j.revmed.2023.05.005
Although not pathognomonic, chondritis of the ears is one of the main manifestations of the disease and consists of inflammatory changes to the cartilage of the ears (most often the helix); the inflammation thus avoids the lobule, which has no cartilage.
Nasal chondritis is usually characterised by pain, sometimes intense, at the root of the nose (junction between the nasal bone and the nasal cartilage).
In case of corticosteroid resistance or corticosteroid dependence, the introduction of a background treatment will be discussed (for example, colchicine or methotrexate).
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