Diagonal ear-lobe crease is correlated with atherosclerotic changes in carotid arteries.
BACKGROUND
The diagonal ear-lobe crease (ELC) is reported to be a marker of cardiovascular disease. Very few reports have assessed the relationship of ELC with atherosclerosis. This relationship is investigated here using a Japanese population.


RESULTS
A prospective cross-sectional study included 212 consecutive patients. Bilateral ear lobes were checked for the ELC and this was followed by carotid ultrasonography to measure the far wall common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA-IMT), plaque score (PS) and plaque number (PN). Patients with ELC had significantly higher carotid IMT than controls (0.90 +/-0.24 vs 0.77 +/-0.15, respectively, P<0.001). ELC presence correlated significantly with carotid IMT, PS, and PN (r=0.306, P<0.0001; r=0.198, P<0.008 and r=0.221, P<0.0001, respectively), and also with age, male sex and hypertension. ELC presence and absence in mild or no PS and moderate or severe PS subgroups was significant, with a chi-squared value of 7.59 (P<0.006). In multivariate regression analysis, ELC presence correlated with CCA-IMT independently. The odds ratio for the presence of ELC in patients with CCA-IMT of <0.8 mm vs patients with CCA-IMT of >or=0.8 mm (the median value) was 0.41 (95% confidence interval, 0.22-0.76).


CONCLUSIONS
The present study showed an association between ELC and increased CCA-IMT, PS, and PN.
Shrestha
Isha
I
Department of Clinical Neuroscience and Therapeutics, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Japan.
Ohtsuki
Toshiho
T
Takahashi
Tetsuya
T
Nomura
Eiichi
E
Kohriyama
Tatsuo
T
Matsumoto
Masayasu
M
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000208:ethnology; D017536:Carotid Artery, Common / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004431:Ear, External / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D017540:Tunica Media / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D018616:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Duplex