Diagonal earlobe creases and ischemic stroke: Preliminary report.
Diagonal earlobe creases are associated with coronary arterial disease, cardiac morbidity and mortality, and all-cause mortality. We studied the influence of earlobe creases on the incidence of ischemic stroke as well as the relationship between earlobe creases and gender, coronary arterial disease, hypertension, diabetes mellirus, and hypercholesterolemia. Data were obtained prospectively from the medical records of 116 patients with ischemic stroke and 232 age- and gender-matched patients without ischemic stroke. All patients were seen in neurological consultation and were examined for the presence of earlobe creases. In the total group of 348 patients, earlobe creases were significantly related to advancing age. In those with ischemic stroke, earlobe creases were significantly related to coronary arterial disease, diabetes mellitus, and nonlacunar ischemic stroke. The cumulative incidences of coronary arterial disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hypercholesterolemia were also significantly higher in those patients with earlobe creases who also had ischemic stroke. When controlled for coronary arterial disease, earlobe creases, in those with ischemic stroke, continued to be significantly related to nonlacunar ischemic stroke.
From the Department of Neurology, Middleton Veterans Administration Hospital and University of Wisconsin Hospitals, Madison, WI, U.S.A.
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Daly