Relapsing polychondritis is a systemic auto-immune disease that mainly affects cartilage structures, progressing through inflammatory flare-ups between phases of remission and ultimately leading to deformation of the cartilages involved. In addition to characteristic damage of auricular or nasal cartilage, tracheobronchial and cardiac involvement are particularly severe, and can seriously alter the prognosis. Tracheobronchial lesions are assessed by means of a multimodal approach, including dynamic thoracic imaging, measurement of pulmonary function (with recent emphasis on pulse oscillometry), and mapping of tracheal lesions through flexible bronchoscopy. Diagnosis can be difficult in the absence of specific diagnostic tools, especially as there may exist a large number of differential diagnoses, particularly as regards inflammatory diseases. The prognosis has improved, due largely to upgraded interventional bronchoscopy techniques and the development of immunosuppressant drugs and targeted therapies, offering patients a number of treatment options.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rmr.2024.03.009 | DOI Listing |
Int J Rheum Dis
January 2025
Department of Internal Medicine, Hedi Chaker University Hospital, Sfax, Tunisia.
Int J Med Sci
January 2025
Department of Rheumatism and Immunology, Tianjin First Central hospital, Tianjin, China.
Autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED) is a rare condition characterized by immune-mediated damage to the inner ear, leading to progressive sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and vestibular symptoms such as vertigo and tinnitus. This study investigates the pathogenesis and therapeutic strategies for AIED through the analysis of three cases with different underlying autoimmune disorders: rheumatoid arthritis, relapsing polychondritis, and IgG4-related disease. The etiology of AIED involves complex immunopathological mechanisms, including molecular mimicry and the "bystander effect," with specific autoantibodies, such as those against heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), playing a potential role in cochlear damage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Dermatol
December 2024
Department of Dermatology, International University of Health and Welfare, Chiba, Japan.
Rev Med Interne
December 2024
Service de médecine interne, CHI Poissy-St Germain, 10, rue du Champs Gaillard, 78300 Poissy, France.
Introduction: VEXAS syndrome (vacuoles, E1 enzyme, X-linked, autoinflammatory, somatic), recently described, due to a somatic mutation of the UBA1 gene and often associated with hemopathy, is characterized by systemic symptoms close to those described in Still's disease or relapsing polychondritis. There are also patients with hemopathy, presenting inflammatory symptoms reminiscent of those of VEXAS syndrome but without mutation of the UBA1 gene.
Case/discussion: Two male patients consulted for general signs, dermatological symptoms, arthralgia, chondritis and venous thrombosis, like patients in the French cohort suffering from VEXAS syndrome.
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