Frank’s sign: silent predictor of coronary artery disease

Authors

  • Chetan Rathi Department of Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Sawangi (Meghe), Wardha-442004, Maharashtra, India
  • Sourya Acharya Department of Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Sawangi (Meghe), Wardha-442004, Maharashtra, India
  • Bhavik Dhirawani Department of Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Sawangi (Meghe), Wardha-442004, Maharashtra, India

Keywords:

Frank’s sign, Coronary artery disease

Abstract

A 60 year old non hypertensive, non diabetic male presented in casualty with complaints of exertional breathlessness of 2 days duration. ECG and cardiac enzymes were within normal limit. General physical examination was normal except for the finding of bilateral ear lobe creases (Figure 1 & 2). With the possibility of angina equivalent patient was posted for coronary angiography which revealed total occlusion of left anterior descending artery and right coronary artery, 80% obtuse marginal and 70% left circumflex artery. LVEF was 25% and patient was advised for high risk CABG. Creased earlobes (Frank’s sign) were alleged to be associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease.

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References

Medline Plus. Earlobe creases. Available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003045.htm. Accessed 19 March 2014.

Constant J. Bedside cardiology, 5th Edition. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Wolters Kluwer Company; 2003:20.

Lichtstein E, Chapman I, Gupta PK, Chadda KD, Smith H Jr, Schwartz I, et al. Letter: Diagonal ear-lobe crease and coronary artery sclerosis. Ann Intern Med. 1976 Sep;85(3):337-8.

Elliott WJ, Karrison T. Increased all-cause and cardiac morbidity and mortality associated with the diagonal earlobe crease: a prospective cohort study. Am J Med. 1991 Sep;91(3):247-54.

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Published

2017-02-10

How to Cite

Rathi, C., Acharya, S., & Dhirawani, B. (2017). Frank’s sign: silent predictor of coronary artery disease. International Journal of Advances in Medicine, 1(1), 66–67. Retrieved from https://www.ijmedicine.com/index.php/ijam/article/view/449