Domas Grigoravičius¹

¹ Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania.

Abstract

Introduction: relapsing polychondritis is a rare disease that causes cartilage loss. The most commonly affected areas are the ears, joints, eyes, rib cartilage, skin, organs of the cardiovascular system, nose, kidneys, larynx, trachea and bronchial complex, and nervous system. Aim: this study aims to review the information available in the literature on the epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of relapsing polychondritis. Literature search strategy: PubMed and Google Scholar databases using the following keywords and their combinations were used for literature search: “relapsing polychondritis”, “treatment”, “diagnosis”, “pathogenesis”, “epidemiology”. Conclusions: relapsing polychondritis is caused by an interaction between genetic, disease-causing, and autoimmune factors. Although clinical symptoms are the primary diagnostic tool, there are no uniform diagnostic criteria for the disease. Laboratory, radiological, and histological findings are nonspecific for relapsing polychondritis. Glucocorticoid therapy is commonly used to manage the symptoms and complications of relapsing polychondritis.

Keywords: relapsing polychondritis, diagnosis of relapsing polychondritis, rare diseases.