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. 2016 Feb 11;6(2):e008558.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-008558.

Relationship between diagonal earlobe creases and coronary artery disease as determined via angiography

Yong Wang  1 , Li-Hua Mao  2 , En-Zhi Jia  3 , Zhao-Yang Li  3 , Xiao-Qing Ding  3 , Peng-Cheng Ge  3 , Zhe Liu  3 , Tie-Bing Zhu  3 , Lian-Sheng Wang  3 , Chun-Jian Li  3 , Wen-Zhu Ma  3 , Zhi-Jian Yang  3
Affiliations

Relationship between diagonal earlobe creases and coronary artery disease as determined via angiography

Yong Wang et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objective: This study was designed to examine the prevalence of unilateral and bilateral diagonal earlobe creases (DELCs) with respect to the diagnosis of coronary heart disease (CHD).

Methods: A total of 558 consecutive participants (402 males and 156 females) aged 36-91 years who underwent coronary angiography were enrolled in this study. The participants were classified as being without a DELC, having a unilateral DELC and having bilateral DELCs; participants with either a unilateral DELC or bilateral DELCs were defined as participants with DELCs. Significant CHD was defined as at least one major vessel with >50% stenosis, and coronary atherosclerosis severity was defined using the Gensini scoring system.

Results: In the present study, bilateral DELCs were more frequently among male (p=0.001), CHD (p=0.000), older people (p=0.000) and those with more severe coronary artery atherosclerosis (p=0.000). The results of the multiple regression analyses indicated that DELCs (OR, 4.861; 95% CI 3.093 to 7.642, p=0.000) remained independently associated with a risk of CHD. It was assumed that participants without a DELC have a certain background risk for CHD (OR is assumed to be 1); the results of the multivariate logistic regression indicated that the relative risk of CHD among participants with bilateral DELCs was 5.690 among all participants (OR, 5.690; 95% CI 3.450 to 9.384, p=0.000), 5.436 among male participants (OR, 5.436; 95% CI 2.808 to 10.523, p=0.000) and 7.148 among female participants (OR, 7.148; 95% CI 3.184 to 16.049, p=0.000). Moreover, a positive association between DELC and age (SI=1.21, SIM=1.65, AP =0.132), gender (SI=2.09, SIM=0.81, AP=0.49) and smoking status (SI=1.49, SIM=0.73, AP=0.29) was found, respectively.

Conclusions: The results of the present study indicated that DELCs are a simple and a feasible means of identifying CHD. However, the exact mechanism underlying the relationship between DELCs and CHD warrants further study.

Keywords: CARDIOLOGY.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The participants’ DELC status was classified as without DELC (left). DELC, diagonal earlobe crease.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The participants’ DELC status was classified as without DELC (right). DELC, diagonal earlobe crease.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The participants’ DELC status was classified as unilateral DELC (left). DELC, diagonal earlobe crease.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The participants’ DELC status was classified as unilateral DELC (right). DELC, diagonal earlobe crease.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The participants’ DELC status was classified as bilateral DELC (left). DELC, diagonal earlobe crease.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The participants’ DELC status was classified as bilateral DELC (right). DELC, diagonal earlobe crease.
Figure 7
Figure 7
The receiver operating characteristic curve of DELC with respect to the diagnosis of CHD. CHD, coronary heart disease; DELC, diagonal earlobe crease.
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