Yunaiyama D, Aoki A, Kobayashi H, Someya M, Okubo M, Saito K. Eustachian tube involvement in a patient with relapsing polychondritis detected by magnetic resonance imaging: A case report. World J Clin Cases 2022; 10(4): 1441-1446 [PMID: 35211581 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i4.1441]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Daisuke Yunaiyama, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, Tokyo Medical University Hospital, 6-7-1 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku 160-0023, Tokyo, Japan. yuunai@tokyo-med.ac.jp
Research Domain of This Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Daisuke Yunaiyama, Kazuhiro Saito, Department of Radiology, Tokyo Medical University Hospital, Shinjuku-ku 160-0023, Tokyo, Japan
Daisuke Yunaiyama, Mitsuru Okubo, Department of Radiology, Tokyo Medical University Hachioji Medical Center, Hachioji-shi 193-0998, Japan
Akiko Aoki, Hiroshi Kobayashi, Department of Rheumatology, Tokyo Medical University Hachioji Medical Center, Hachioji-shi 193-0998, Japan
Miwako Someya, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Tokyo Medical University Hachioji Medical Center, Hachioji-shi 193-0998, Japan
Author contributions: Yunaiyama D and Aoki A designed the report; Aoki A, Kobayashi H, and Someya M collected the patient’s clinical data; all authors analyzed the data and wrote the paper and approved the final manuscript.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent from the patient regarding submitting case report has been obtained.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to report.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Daisuke Yunaiyama, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, Tokyo Medical University Hospital, 6-7-1 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku 160-0023, Tokyo, Japan. yuunai@tokyo-med.ac.jp
Received: September 7, 2021 Peer-review started: September 7, 2021 First decision: November 19, 2021 Revised: November 28, 2021 Accepted: December 23, 2021 Article in press: December 23, 2021 Published online: February 6, 2022 Processing time: 139 Days and 2.2 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a rare inflammatory disease involving the systemic cartilage, such as the auricle, trachea, and bronchiole, among others. A patient with RP shows variable symptoms based on the involved cartilage.
CASE SUMMARY
A 72-year-old Japanese woman with a history of redness of the bilateral auricles for 3 d was referred to a clinician. The clinician prescribed antibiotics to the patient; however, the symptoms worsened; thus, she was referred to our hospital. Head and neck magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed edematous auricle with remarkable contrast, fluid collection in the bilateral mastoid cells, suggesting otitis media. The eustachian tube (ET) on the right side was also edematous with contrast enhancement. The patient was suspected of RP according to the diagnostic criteria. A biopsy of the auricular cartilage was performed by an otorhinolaryngologist, confirming pathological proof of RP. Treatments with steroids were immediately administered thereafter.
CONCLUSION
We highlight a rare case of RP with radiologically confirmed involvement of ET in the MRI.
Core Tip: Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a rare inflammatory disease involving the systemic cartilage. Its diagnostic criteria and clinical manifestations are well established; however, no previous studies have reported the involvement of the eustachian tube (ET) in RP. A 72-year-old Japanese woman with a history of redness of the auricles for 3 d was diagnosed with RP with pathological evidence. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed edematous ETs with contrast enhancement. The MRI manifestation was considered as inflammatory changes of the ET cartilage.
