March 2026 Research Update

This month added a detailed example showing how relapsing polychondritis can show up with symptoms that do not immediately point to cartilage inflammation, and how whole-body imaging can help connect the dots. A single case report described a person whose main problems included a long-lasting cough plus sudden eye and hearing symptoms, with PET-CT highlighting active inflammation in multiple cartilage areas. The main message is that relapsing polychondritis may involve the airway and other organs at the same time, and imaging may help show where cartilage inflammation is occurring. [1]

In this reported case, PET-CT showed increased FDG uptake (a sign of active inflammation on this scan) in the rib cartilage, laryngeal cartilage, and tracheal cartilage, which supported the diagnosis of chondritis involving the chest and airway. The person also had panuveitis (inflammation inside the eye), and hearing testing confirmed sensorineural hearing loss; the report also noted evidence pointing to a syphilis-related cause for the hearing loss. The patient was managed with a combination of immunosuppressive medicines, but long-term outcomes were not reported. [1]

For patients and caregivers, this report mainly adds understanding rather than changing what to do now, because it describes only 1 person and does not compare different approaches. It highlights that relapsing polychondritis can involve airway cartilage in a way that may present as stubborn cough, and that symptoms outside the ears and nose (like eye inflammation) can occur in the same overall illness picture. It also shows that people with relapsing polychondritis can have more than one cause for symptoms at the same time, since the hearing loss in this case was described as having a different underlying cause. What remains uncertain is how often PET-CT changes diagnosis or monitoring in relapsing polychondritis, because this month did not include larger studies testing that question. [1]