Raveendran Sherine Subodhini, Amarasinghe Lalantha
Plastic and Reconstructive Unit, National Hospital of Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Plast Reconstr Surg. 2004 Dec;114(7):1903-9. doi: 10.1097/01.prs.0000142745.63017.e1.
The ancient art of body piercing has rejuvenated in the recent years as part of the fashion process. The ear is the most frequent body part to be pierced to wear jewelry. Split earlobes are commonly presented to plastic surgeons and the recurrence rate is high. The etiology of the acquired split earlobe was thought to be attributable to either trauma or heavy earrings. In this study, the authors explored the cause of the split earlobe and recurrence after surgical repair. Twenty-five patients who were using gold earrings presented with split earlobe and were studied, and the etiology of the condition was analyzed. A questionnaire was completed and the tissue obtained during surgical repair of the split earlobes was submitted for histopathological studies. This group of patients was compared with 17 subjects having stretched earlobe who were using heavy gold earrings. The control group consists of 50 subjects using gold earrings with normal earlobes. Clinical presentation and the histological studies suggest that allergy to metals used in the earring could lead to split earlobe. There is a difference between the split earlobe and stretched earlobe; the latter results from constant pull by heavy earrings. The authors present a new theory regarding the etiology of split earlobe and recommend that avoiding the offending metal in the earring is indispensable to prevent recurrence.
作为时尚潮流的一部分，古老的人体穿刺艺术近年来再度兴起。耳朵是最常被穿刺以佩戴首饰的身体部位。耳垂裂常见于整形外科医生处，且复发率很高。后天性耳垂裂的病因被认为要么是外伤，要么是佩戴过重的耳环。在本研究中，作者探讨了耳垂裂的原因以及手术修复后的复发情况。对25名佩戴金耳环且出现耳垂裂的患者进行了研究，并分析了病情的病因。完成了一份问卷，并将耳垂裂手术修复过程中获取的组织送去做组织病理学研究。将这组患者与17名使用重金耳环导致耳垂拉长的受试者进行了比较。对照组由50名佩戴金耳环且耳垂正常的受试者组成。临床表现和组织学研究表明，对耳环中使用的金属过敏可能导致耳垂裂。耳垂裂和耳垂拉长有所不同；后者是由重金耳环的持续牵拉导致的。作者提出了一种关于耳垂裂病因的新理论，并建议避免耳环中引起问题的金属对于预防复发必不可少。
