Relapsing polychondritis causing breathlessness: Two case reports

Figure 1 Computed tomography. A: The neck computed tomography of case 1 showed throat stenosis and thickened ventricular and vocal bands; B: The chest computed tomography of case 2 showed new atelectasis of the lower left lung.

Figure 2 The electronic fiber nasolaryngoscopy. A: The electronic fiber nasolaryngoscopy of case 1 showed bilateral vocal cord mucosal edema and the appearance of the vocal cords shows as the change of fish abdomen. Narrow glottis, submucosal edema and stenosis were also seen; B: The electronic fiber nasolaryngoscopy of case 2. Two weeks after tracheal extubation, electronic fiber nasolaryngoscopy showed no bilateral ventricular edema, narrow throat cavity, and rima glottidis.

Figure 3 The pathological examination of case 1 of HE 100× showed fibrotic tissue around chondrocytes, chronic inflammatory cell infiltration among the chondrocytes.

Figure 4 The fiber bronchoscopy of case 2 demonstrated obvious tracheal mucosal congestion and edema, unclear tracheal cartilage ring, and diffuse stenosis of the lumen.