Relapsing Polychondritis with Laryngotracheal Involvement: A Case Report

Abstract

Relapsing polychondritis is a progressive multisystemic disease affecting primarily cartilaginous tissue of otorhinolaryngologic structures. Because of its rarity and progressive involvement of multisystem, diagnosing and managing a relapsing polychondritis is a clinical challenge, especially when it involves laryngotracheal cartilages, which can be critical and potentially life threatening. We reported a case of a 56-year-old man who presented with progressive shortness of breath and noisy breathing due to thickening of laryngotracheal cartilages. A diagnosis of relapsing polychondritis was made after considering his clinical, histological and radiological findings. Eventhough relapsing polychondritis with laryngotracheal cartilages involvement was rare and the nature of this disease was progressive, it was still advisable to consider a diagnosis of relapsing polychondritis whenever encountered cases of airway obstruction with evidence of thickened trachea, despite the other systemic manifestations did not reveal yet. Generally, systemic corticosteroid and other immunosuppressive agents are the treatments of choice in most cases however, when laryngotracheal cartilages are involved, emergency tracheostomy will be indicated.