Successful treatment of relapsing polychondritis with circumferential bronchial wall thickening including the tracheomembranous area with tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitor

Abstract

This is a case of a 55-year-old man who presented with cough and anterior chest pain. Tracheal biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of relapsing polychondritis (RP). Although the patient had circumferential bronchial wall thickening extending to the tracheomembranous area and was positive foRPR3-ANCA, he did not meet the diagnostic criteria for granulomatosis with polyangiitis. The patient was refractory to prednisolone + methotrexate + azathioprine and responded to adalimumab, a biologic tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitor effective in RP refractory cases. Herein, we report a rare case of RP with circumferential bronchial wall thickening extending to the tracheomembranous area.

Keywords: Relapsing polychondritis; circumferential bronchial wall thickening; granulomatosis with polyangiitis; tracheomembranous area; tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitor.