부산대학교 도서관

It is widely accepted that ear lobe crease (ELC) is closely associated with coronary heart disease. In the present study, attempts were made to confirm the significant association of ELC with cerebral infarction as well as coronary heart disease in Japanese people, and to investigate the relationship of ELC with known risk factors for atherosclerotic vascular diseases.There was no ELC in 53 healthy controls under 50 years of age. ELC was found in 18.3% of 104 patient controls, in 66.5% of 48 patients with coronary heart disease and in 44.4% of 36 patients with cerebral infarction. When cerebral infarctions were subdivided, the frequencies of ELC were equally higher in patients with cerebral infarctions in the distribution of perforating as well as cortical arteries.The frequency of ELC increased with advancing age. It was found that ELC was significantly associated with smoking and male sex. However, no significant association was observed between ELC and either hypertension, plasma levels of total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride and uric acid, or calcification of thoracic aorta.