"Cauliflower Ears" describes the appearance of swelling of the auricular cartilage resulting in gross distortion of the auricle. The underlying pathology is inflammation of the auricular cartilage. We report a case of a patient who presented to the ophthalmology clinic with an ocular inflammation, whose subsequent diagnosis of replapsing polychondritis was clinched with the finding of "Cauliflower Ears". This case emphasizes the importance of an appropriate general examination of ophthalmic patients for early diagnosis and prompt institution of medical treatment, which may prevent life-threatening complications to the patient.
Study site: Eye clinic, University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.