Abstract

Background: Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a rare, chronic coursed disorder characterized by widespread and destructive inflammatory lesion of the cartilaginous tissues such as ears, nose, respiratory tract and peripheral joints. Systemic involvement and vasculitis can be life-threatening. Due
to lack of pathognomonic laboratory tests, RP is diagnosed on clinical grounds.
Case Report: We describe here a patient with RP, whose first manifestation was fever. She was initially misdiagnosed with other diseases. The correct diagnosis was made just after the auricular chondritis had appeared. The clinical features, laboratory investigations, diagnostic criteria
and treatment options were discussed with a brief review of literature.
Conclusions: Pysicians should consider RP when evaluating fever of unknown origin in any patient with or without auricular symptoms.

Keywords: Polychondritis, Relapsing, Arthralgia, Fever of Unknown Origin