The diagonal earlobe crease: a cutaneous manifestation of coronary artery disease.

Skin signs of systemic disease are of great interest to dermatologists. Reports based on coronary angiographic studies and postmortem examinations have shown that there is a higher prevalence of earlobe creases in patients with coronary heart disease. In this report seven patients with documented coronary heart disease are presented. Five of the seven patients had bilateral diagonal ear creases. The evidence to date indicates that this ear crease may be a cutaneous sign of coronary heart disease, and can therefore be used to identify patients at an increased risk for coronary heart disease.