Melting corneas with collapsing nose.

A 31-year-old white woman with relapsing polychondritis presented with profound, diffuse episcleritis, marked conjunctival chemosis, and corneal-limbal inflammation and melting, which was refractory to corticosteroid treatment. With the initiation of chlorambucil the inflammation subsided, leaving an almost normal slit-lamp picture. The associated findings of nasal cartilage and pinna cartilage inflammation helped to establish the diagnosis of relapsing polychondritis in this patient.