"frank's sign"

Frank' sign or diagonal earlobe crease (DELC) is a diagonal earlobe crease that extends backwards from the tragus at an angle of 45 degree across the lobule to the ear edge of the auricle. It has been described as a dermatological marker for coronary artery disease. Frank's sign is a useful clinical sign for coronary artery disease. Inspection of the earlobes should be considered as integral part of the physical examination in clinical practice for patients with suspected coronary artery disease.

The diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) remains uniquely dependent on physical examination signs. Diagonal earlobe crease (DELC) also referred to as "Frank's sign, has been associated with several cardiometabolic disorders with further investigations reporting that its occurrence was more prevalent among aging men and thought to a sign of aging skin. However, there is no clear mechanism of development or rationale behind such associations. The author is reporting a novel association between Frank's sign and PCOS in a 23-year-old female patient...

Coronary artery disease is a global challenge for healthcare systems. Early diagnosis is a key issue to improve quality of life and reduce morbidity and mortality. Diagonal earlobe crease, a wrinkle extending obliquely across the earlobe, was linked by many authors to various atherosclerotic diseases. This systematic review aimed at summarizing the diagnostic accuracy of diagonal earlobe crease for diagnosis of chronic and acute coronary syndromes in adults. Cochrane's recommendations for systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy studies were followed...

Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (AT/RT) is a highly malignant central nervous system tumor predominantly occurring in infants that may also arise in older children and adults. Rare secondary AT/RT developing from other tumors such as pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (PXA) are on record, but AT/RT presenting with molecular features of PXA have not been described. Here, we report 3 malignant central nervous system tumors in children (10, 13, and 18 y old). All tumors were located in the temporal lobe. In 2 cases, there was no history of a low-grade precursor lesion; in 1 case anaplastic PXA had been diagnosed 3 months earlier...

Despite significant advancements in cardiovascular diagnostic technology, physical examination signs remain credible diagnostic indicators of coronary artery disease. Here, we report a case of a 50-year-old male patient with premature coronary artery disease associated with a novel physical sign of bilateral symmetrical bulging of the sideburn areas of the face. The sideburns correspond anatomically to the buccal fat pad which is composed of visceral adipose tissue. Visceral obesity is an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease, independent of total body weight, with some suggestion of a causal association...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

This case highlights the case of a woman in her 50´s and the association of Frank's sign with vascular disease. Earlobe crease or Frank's sign is a diagonal crease in the earlobe that extends diagonally from the tragus to the edge of the auricle with an angle of approximately 45°. Its presence increases with advancing age and is thought to be predictive of vascular disease. The recognition of this sign is considered a key factor in the identification of patients with high vascular risk and endothelial dysfunction...

Bacterial functional amyloids are evolutionarily optimized to aggregate, so much so that the extreme robustness of functional amyloid makes it very difficult to examine their structure-function relationships in a detailed manner. Previous work has shown that functional amyloids are resistant to conventional chemical denaturants, but they dissolve in formic acid (FA) at high concentrations. However, systematic investigation requires a quantitative analysis of FA's ability to denature proteins. Amyloid formed by Pseudomonas sp...

Frank's sign is a diagonal crease of the ear lobe, supposedly related to cardiac pathology, and has strongly been associated with coronary artery atherosclerosis. A total of 45 consecutive adult patients referred for autopsy in a one-and-a-half-year period were extensively studied. Samples from both the ear lobes were obtained for histopathology, as well as cardiac samples from all four cardiac compartments. When compared patients with Frank's sign and those without it had no statistical difference in age (p = 0...

Patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) develop various vasculopathy-induced vascular disorders such as Raynaud's phenomenon, abnormal nail-fold capillaries, persistent digital ischemia, digital ulcers (DU), and sometimes develop renal crisis and pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH), affecting prognosis. Earlobe crease (ELC), also known as Frank's sign, is a wrinkle extending from the tragus to the outer border of the earlobe and is generally recognized as the sign of cardiovascular events. However, no previous study analyzed the association between ELC and SSc...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND The presence of a Frank's sign ear crease is closely correlated with coronary artery disease (CAD). The SYNTAX score indicates the complexity of coronary lesions. This present investigation sought to identify the correlation between SYNTAX score and several specific ear creases. MATERIAL AND METHODS Four specific types of ear creases - crossing crease not originated from ear hole (CC-NEH), crossing crease originated from ear hole (CC-EH), vertical creases on the face side (VC-F), and vertical creases dividing earlobe and face (VC-EF) - were investigated in patients undergoing coronary angiography...

OBJECTIVE: Cardiovascular diseases are the most common and important comorbidities in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Literature indicates that there may be a relationship between diagonal earlobe crease (DELC) and coronary artery disease (CAD). Accordingly, the present study aimed to assess the relationship with DELC and cardiac comorbidities in patients with COPD during routine physical examination. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this prospective cohort study, we evaluated the demographic data, pulmonary function test (PFT) results, lipid profile, oxygen saturation, and the presence of DELC in patients with COPD and control subjects...

While it is generally accepted that α-synuclein oligomers (αSOs) play an important role in neurodegeneration in Parkinson's Disease (PD), the basis for their cytotoxicity remains unclear. We have previously shown that docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) stabilizes αSOs against dissociation without compromising their ability to co-localise with glutamatergic synapses of primary hippocampal neurons, suggesting that they bind to synaptic proteins. Here we develop a proteomic screen for putative αSO binding partners in rat primary neurons using DHA-stabilized human αSOs as a bait protein...

Diagonal earlobe crease (DELC) or Frank's sign is a diagonal crease in the earlobe that extends diagonally from the tragus to the edge of the auricle with an angle of approximately 45°. Although its presence increases with advancing age, several studies have shown an independent association between DELC and cardiovascular diseases as well as peripheral vascular diseases. DELC has also been demonstrated to increase the risk of cerebrovascular events (mostly ischaemic stroke), probably through atherosclerotic mechanisms...

There are various physical signs that can be used as a reliable tool to diagnose the subclinical stages of atherosclerosis, including corneal arcus, xanthelasma, and diagonal earlobe crease (DELC) or "Frank's sign". Bilateral diagonal earlobe crease has been positively correlated with coronary artery disease (CAD) and peripheral vascular disease (PVD). The presence of DELC has been identified as an independent variable for CAD. The exact etiology is unknown and the association between the presence of DELC and coronary artery disease (CAD) still remains controversial...

Background: Information on the association between earlobe crease (ELC) and peripheral artery disease is limited. We assessed this association in community-dwelling older adults. Study Design: A total of 294 Atahualpa residents aged ≥60 years were enrolled. ELC were visually identified by two raters. The ankle-brachial index (ABI), used as a surrogate of peripheral artery disease, was categorized using American Heart Association criteria. Using logistic regression and probability models, adjusted for demographics and cardiovascular risk factors, we assessed the relationship between ELC and abnormal ABI determinations, as well as the influence of age on this association...

BACKGROUND: Earlobe crease (ELC) has been linked to cardiovascular diseases, but information on its association with cognitive decline is limited. We aimed to assess the association between ELC and cognitive performance in community-dwelling adults living in rural Ecuador. METHODS: Of 863 individuals aged ≥40 years enrolled in the Atahualpa Project, 629 (73%) were included. ELC were visually identified by two independent raters, and cognitive performance was measured by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)...