Relapsing polychondritis facts

• Relapsing polychondritis is an uncommon, chronic disorder of the cartilage.
• Relapsing polychondritis is characterized by recurrent episodes of painful inflammation.
• Relapsing polychondritis can involve all types of cartilage.
• Typical cartilage tissues affected include the ears, nose, and joints.
• There is no one specific test for diagnosing relapsing polychondritis.
• Treatment often involves cortisone-related medications.
• The course of symptoms for patients is often unpredictable.

What is relapsing polychondritis?

Relapsing polychondritis is an uncommon, chronic disorder of the cartilage that is characterized by recurrent episodes of inflammation of the cartilage of various tissues of the body. Chondritis means inflammation of cartilage. Tissues containing cartilage that can become inflamed include the ears, nose, joints, spine, and windpipe (trachea). The eyes, heart, and blood vessels, which have a biochemical makeup similar to that of cartilage, can also be affected. Relapsing polychondritis is sometimes called the red ear syndrome.

The disease mostly affects cartilage (firm but flexible tissue) in your ears and joints. It also may show up in your nose, ribs, spine, and windpipe. It can affect any area where the tissue is similar to cartilage, like your eyes, heart, skin, kidney, ribs, blood vessels, and nervous system.

Common signs of relapsing polychondritis include:

• A dip in the bridge of your nose ("saddle nose" or "pug nose")
• Ear Pain and redness
• Red, painful, and swollen eyes
• Painful, swollen joints (hands, fingers, shoulders, elbows, knees, ankles, toes, pelvis) that may or may not happen along with arthritis
• Rib pain
• Throat or neck pain
• Trouble breathing and speaking
• Trouble swallowing
• Rashes

People with this condition may also have other inflammatory diseases like vasculitis or ankylosing spondylitis. They also may have another autoimmune disease like lupus.

Depending on where RP affects you, it can also cause problems with a heart valve or kidney issues. If RP affects your inner ear, you could feel sick to your stomach or have trouble with hearing and balance.

If the disease gets into your windpipe, it can cause a cough and make it hard to breathe or swallow. You also can have severe RP Pain in your breastbone and ribs.

Doctors don’t know what causes RP. Some think a certain gene may make you more likely to get it, but it doesn’t run in families.

It’s considered an autoimmune disorder. That means your immune system attacks healthy tissue by mistake. Researchers think some cases might be triggered by stress or things in the environment.

The disease mostly affects cartilage (firm but flexible tissue) in your ears and joints. It also may show up in your nose, ribs, spine, and windpipe. It can affect any area where the tissue is similar to cartilage, like your eyes, heart, skin, kidney, ribs, blood vessels, and nervous system.

Common signs of relapsing polychondritis include:

• A dip in the bridge of your nose ("saddle nose" or "pug nose")
• Ear pain and redness
• Red, painful, and swollen eyes
• Painful, swollen joints (hands, fingers, shoulders, elbows, knees, ankles, toes, pelvis) that may or may not happen along with arthritis
• Rib pain
• Throat or neck pain
• Trouble breathing and speaking
• Trouble swallowing
• Rashes

People with this condition may also have other inflammatory diseases like vasculitis or ankylosing spondylitis. They also may have another autoimmune disease like lupus.

Depending on where RP affects you, it can also cause problems with a heart valve or kidney issues. If RP affects your inner ear, you could feel sick to your stomach or have trouble with hearing and balance.

If the disease gets into your windpipe, it can cause a cough and make it hard to breathe or swallow. You also can have severe RP pain in your breastbone and ribs.

The course of symptoms for patients with relapsing polychondritis is often unpredictable.

Repeated bouts of inflammation of cartilage from relapsing polychondritis frequently leads to permanent destruction of the involved tissues and results in disability. Destruction of nose and ear cartilage results in deformity and can impair breathing when the trachea is affected.

Relapsing polychondritis is potentially dangerous and even life threatening, depending on the tissues involved. Inflammation of the cartilage of the windpipe (trachea), heart, aorta, and other blood vessels can be fatal. For some patients, however, the disease is much more limited and mild. Close monitoring of symptoms with a qualified doctor is recommended for optimal results.