Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

Case Report

Relapsing polychondritis with an intracranial granuloma: A case report

Masanori Itoh, M.D., Hiroyuki Miura, M.D., Hideki Shimamura, M.D., Takayuki Kubodera, M.D. and Takeshi Matsuoka, M.D.

Department of 5th Internal Medicine, Tokyo Medical University

We report a case of relapsing polychondritis (RP) with an intracranial granuloma. A 67-year-old man developed progressive disorientation during the course of RP with left auricular chondritis and episcleritis. He had history of sinusitis and rupture of an aneurysm in middle cerebral artery. Laboratory examinations revealed high erythrocyte sedimentation rate and positive C-reactive protein. Head CT and MRI with contrast enhancement showed a mass adjacent to the falx cerebri and lesions in the frontal skull base. The mass was surrounded by extensive perifocal edema that spread mainly into the frontal white matter on both sides. Histologically, the mass displayed an inflammatory granuloma. By removal of the mass, edema decreaed around the granuloma, and his disorientation improved markedly. Surgical findings revealed the granuloma was separated from sinusitis. There are a few reports on RP with an intracranial granuloma.

(CLINICA NEUROL, 44: 350|354, 2004)
key words: relapsing polychondritis, intracranial granuloma, Wegener's granulomatosis, treatable dementia

(Received: 3-Sep-03)