Cutis
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Review Case Reports
Relapsing polychondritis: case report and review of the literature.
A 65-year-old man who experienced the acute onset of pain, redness, and swelling of his right ear was treated with antibiotics for erysipelas. Subsequently, the other ear and both eyes became inflammed. Relapsing polychondritis was diagnosed and treatment with prednisone was successful. ⋯ The cause is autoimmune. Recurrent episodes of progressive inflammation result in destruction of cartilage. Treatment consists of administration of corticosteroids and other anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive drugs.
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Acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans is a chronic cutaneous disease caused by the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. Acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans is endemic in some regions of Europe but is only rarely seen in the United States. ⋯ All five patients from whom biographical data were available were European immigrants. Our data suggest that some of the first patients with Lyme disease in the United States came to the Mayo Clinic earlier in this century.