Related Experiment Videos
The diagonal earlobe crease: a cutaneous manifestation of coronary artery disease
Insights
A diagonal ear crease may indicate a higher risk of coronary heart disease. This skin finding, observed in patients with heart conditions, suggests it could be a useful indicator for identifying individuals at increased risk.
Area of Science:
- Dermatology
- Cardiology
- Medical Diagnostics
Background:
- Systemic diseases often manifest with cutaneous signs, attracting dermatological interest.
- Previous studies suggest a correlation between earlobe creases and coronary heart disease (CHD).
- Coronary angiography and postmortem data support a higher prevalence of ear creases in CHD patients.
Observation:
- This report details seven patients diagnosed with coronary heart disease.
- Five of these seven patients exhibited bilateral diagonal ear creases.
- The presence of ear creases was noted as a potential skin marker.
Findings:
- A significant association was observed between diagonal ear creases and coronary heart disease.
- Bilateral diagonal ear creases were present in a majority of the studied CHD patients.
- The ear crease appears to be a potential cutaneous manifestation of underlying CHD.
Implications:
- The diagonal ear crease may serve as a simple, non-invasive cutaneous sign for identifying individuals at risk of CHD.
- This finding could aid in early risk stratification for coronary heart disease.
- Further research into cutaneous markers for systemic diseases like CHD is warranted.
Abstract:
Skin signs of systemic disease are of great interest to dermatologists. Reports based on coronary angiographic studies and postmortem examinations have shown that there is a higher prevalence of earlobe creases in patients with coronary heart disease. In this report seven patients with documented coronary heart disease are presented. Five of the seven patients had bilateral diagonal ear creases. The evidence to date indicates that this ear crease may be a cutaneous sign of coronary heart disease, and can therefore be used to identify patients at an increased risk for coronary heart disease.