Relapsing polychondritis-associated refractory airway stenosis

Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a rare and debilitating rheumatic disease featuring recurrent and at times disseminated inflammation of cartilaginous structures, including auricles, eyes, peripheral joints, and airway1. Symptomatic airway compromise in RP is considered a common but severe cause of morbidity and mortality, which necessitates aggressive medical and bronchoscopic intervention2. We describe a refractory airway stenosis in a young patient with RP. A 24-year-old man attended our clinic because of progressive pain and swelling in his left ear that had progressed to the right side with tenderness in his right eye for 1 year. He had been diagnosed with auricle chondritis with scleritis …