Objective: To improve the understanding of the clinical feature and early diagnosis of relapsing polychondritis (RP).

Methods: Eleven patients with RP were analyzed retrospectively and the reported literatures were reviewed.

Results: Nine cases had initial involvement of auricular cartilage while two polyarthritis. The treatment of 2RP patients with respiratory tract involvement was invalid and 1 patient died. Nine cases were initially misdiagnosed, with a misdiagnosis rate of 81.82%.

Conclusions: RP involves cartilage and connective tissue. The prognosis with respiratory tract involvement is poor. RP is a sort of paroxysmal and progressive inflammation involving cartilages all over the body with a variety of clinical manifestations. Early diagnosis of RP is based on full understanding of its clinical features.