John N. Friedmana, Xing Zhaoa, b 
Abstract
Degeneration of the elastic tissue around the small blood vessels that carry blood to the earlobes produces the earlobe crease. This is the same type of change in blood vessels associated with coronary artery disease (CAD). The visible changes that show up in tiny blood vessels of the ear could indicate similar changes in those blood vessels that can’t be seen around the heart. This study aimed to assess the associations of diagonal earlobe crease and age with coronary artery disease. A cohort of 1706 residents was enrolled in this study. Physical examinations and laboratory tests were performed following a standardized protocol. Diagonal earlobe crease was found in in people younger than age 40 was a sign of CAD in up to 80 percent of cases. Further, we found that the sensitivity and specificity was high regardless of age, except for specificity in male patients > 75 years old. These data suggest that a diagonal earlobe crease is associated with increased coronary artery disease morbidity and mortality. Patients with diagonal earlobe crease may be at higher risk for coronary events, and might be especially cautioned to control or reduce other cardiac risk factors.
Keywords: Diagonal earlobe crease; coronary artery disease; Earlobes; Elastic tissue
Copyright © 2015 by The American Society for BioMedicine and BM-Publisher, Inc.
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