caa a22 4500 388085053 CHVBK 20180307125227.0 cr unu---uuuuu 161130e199907 xx s 000 0 eng 10.1017/S0022215100144780 doi S0022215100144780 pii (NATIONALLICENCE)cambridge-10.1017/S0022215100144780 When is a biopsy justified in a case of relapsing polychondritis? [Elektronische Daten] Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a relatively rare rheumatic condition of unknown aetiology. It is characterized by recurrent episodic inflammation of cartilaginous structures (nose, ear and trachea). The clinical diagnosis of polychondritis can frequently be made with confidence in the absence of histological confirmation. A 61-year-old diabetic man, with bilateral relapsing aural inflammation, left ear deafness with tinnitus and pain at the sternocostal junctions is reported. After clinical diagnosis of relapsing polychondritis steroid therapy was started. An ear cartilage biopsy was performed confirming the clinical diagnosis. Subsequently soft tissue infection occurred at the operation site. The abscess was drained and oral ciprofloxacin was given with complete resolution of the infection over 30 days. As the infection is the main cause of death in these patients, we analyse whether biopsy is absolutely necessary for the diagnosis of RP in some patients. Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1999 Polychondritis, relapsing nationallicence Biopsy nationallicence Reina Carlos O'Connor Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocio, Sevilla, Spain Iriarte Maria Teresa Garcia Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocio, Sevilla, Spain Reyes Francisco Javier Barron Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocio, Sevilla, Spain Monge Ernesto Garcia Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocio, Sevilla, Spain Barona Rafael Luque Department of Pathology, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocio, Sevilla, Spain Angel Diego Gomez Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Medicine of Sevilla, Spain The Journal of Laryngology & Otology Cambridge University Press 113/7(1999-07), 663-665 0022-2151 113:7<663 1999 113 JLO https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022215100144780 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 other jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022215100144780 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Reina Carlos O'Connor Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocio, Sevilla, Spain NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Iriarte Maria Teresa Garcia Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocio, Sevilla, Spain NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Reyes Francisco Javier Barron Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocio, Sevilla, Spain NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Monge Ernesto Garcia Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocio, Sevilla, Spain NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Barona Rafael Luque Department of Pathology, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocio, Sevilla, Spain NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Angel Diego Gomez Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Medicine of Sevilla, Spain NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- The Journal of Laryngology & Otology Cambridge University Press 113/7(1999-07), 663-665 0022-2151 113:7<663 1999 113 JLO CC0 http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0 nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-cambridge