Auricular chondritis and thrombotic microangiopathy: an unusual combination revealing systemic lupus erythematosus.

Thrombotic microangiopathy is a severe disorder, which is a cause of stroke in young patients. Etiologic investigations are mandatory to diagnose underlying disease. Systemic lupus erythematosus is one of the diseases, which can be associated with thrombotic microangiopathy. Although lupus diagnosis is usually easy, relying on characteristic clinical manifestations, rare symptoms can be misinterpreted. We report here a case of polychondritis, which was the first manifestation of a lupus-associated thrombotic microangiopathy.
(Copyright © 2012 Société française de rhumatologie. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.)