CASE REPORT article
Front. Med.
Sec. Pulmonary Medicine
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1629991
Rapidly Progressive Relapsing Polychondritis Following Surgery for Lung Adenocarcinoma: A Case Report
Provisionally accepted
- The Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Quanzhou, China
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Background Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a rare autoimmune disease. This paper reports a unique case of RP with rapid progression after surgery for lung adenocarcinoma. Case presentation A 75-year-old man presented with a right upper lung mass on physical examination, which was finally diagnosed as invasive adenocarcinoma (stage IB) by pathology, and underwent thoracoscopic lobectomy without further chemotherapy or immunotherapy. Within 90 days after surgery, the patient developed shortness of breath, cough, and redness and swelling of the ear, and he was subsequently diagnosed with RP after pathological examination of the auricular cartilage. The patient experienced temporary improvement with mechanical ventilation, methylprednisolone, and intravenous immunoglobulin therapy, during which time comprehensive rehabilitation was initiated. However, he subsequently developed upper gastrointestinal bleeding, polymicrobial infections, and hemophagocytic syndrome, which proved fatal. Conclusion This case highlights the rare temporal correlation of RP as a paraneoplastic syndrome that can occur prior to or concurrently with tumor onset, but it may also arise following tumor resection. Because of the rarity and adverse consequences of RP, clinicians should improve their recognition of the disease to permit early diagnosis and treatment.
Keywords: Relapsing polychondritis, Lung Adenocarcinoma, postoperative progression, autoimmune disease, case report
Received: 16 May 2025; Accepted: 07 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Guo, Huang, Chen and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhifeng Guo, guozhifeng6@126.com
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