Relapsing Polychondritis

Peter D. Kent; Clement J. Michet, Jr; Harvinder S. Luthra

Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2004;16(1)

Prognostic Factors

Airway involvement, infection, and cardiovascular complications including vasculitis are the leading causes of death in relapsing polychondritis.^[3] Factors that negatively impact survival at the time of diagnosis include old age, anemia, and laryngotracheal stricture. Saddle nose deformity, arthritis, vasculitis, and anemia may be more important variables among patients younger than 50 years of age.^[3] The 10-year survival rate reported in one series from 1986 was 55%, whereas in 1998, another series found that 94% of patients were alive after 8 years.^[3,4]

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Cite this: Relapsing Polychondritis - Medscape - Jan 01, 2004.

Table 1. Clinical Features of Relapsing Polychondritis
Feature	Presenting, %	Cumulative, %
Auricular chondritis	43	89
Arthritis	32	72
Nasal chondritis	21	61
Ocular inflammation	18	59
Laryngotracheal symptoms	23	55
Reduced hearing	7	40
Vestibular dysfunction*	4	28
Microhematuria^†	15	26
Saddle nose*	11	25
Cutaneous*	4	25
Laryngotracheal stricture^†	15	23
Vasculitis*	2	14
Elevated creatinine^†	7	13
Aortic or mitral regurgitation*	0	12
Aneurysm^†	0	4

*Data incomplete or not reported in the study by McAdam et al.^[1]
^†Data only from the study by Michet et al.^[3]
Data derived from three large case series and reviews, totaling 337 patients.^[1,3,4]

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Relapsing Polychondritis

Prognostic Factors

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References

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