Case Report

Severe Relapsing Polychondritis Occurring After Ear Piercing

JACQUES SERRATRICE, NICOLETA ENÉ, BRIGITTE GRANEL, PATRICK DISDIER, CHRISTINE DE ROUX-SERRATRICE, LAURE SWIADER, GUY MOULIN, ANTOINE GIOVANNI, and PIERRE JEAN WEILLER

ABSTRACT.

We describe a case of relapsing polychondritis with laryngo-tracheal involvement, occurring after ear piercing in a 39-year-old woman. Polychondritis was clearly time-related to ear piercing. This association draws attention to the risk of relapsing polychondritis during body art practices with cartilage trauma. (J Rheumatol 2003;30:2716-7)

Key Indexing Terms:

RELAPSING POLYCHONDRITIS
CARTILAGE TRAUMA
EAR PIERCING

---

From the Service de Médecine Interne, the Fédération d'Oto-Rhino-Laryngologie, and the Service de Radiologie, CHU Timone, Marseille, France.

J. Serratrice, MD; N. Ené, MD; B. Granel, MD; P. Disdier, MD; C. deRoux-Serratrice, MD; L. Swiader, MD; G. Moulin, MD; A. Giovanni, MD; P.J. Weiller, MD.

Address reprints requests to Dr. P. Disdier, CHU Timone, 264 rue Saint-Pierre, 13385 Marseille Cedex 5, France. E-mail: patrick.disdier@ap-hm.fr

Submitted January 22, 2003; revision accepted May 28, 2003.

---