Dermatological indicators of coronary risk: a case-control study

Objective: We examined the association of dermatological signs such as baldness, thoracic hairiness, hair greying and diagonal earlobe crease with the risk of myocardial infarction in men under the age of 60 years. Methods: A hospital-based, case-control study included 842 men admitted for the first non-fatal myocardial infarction, the controls were 712 men admitted with noncardiac diagnoses, without clinical signs of coronary disease. The relative risks were estimated as odds ratios. Logistic regression was used to control for the confounding variables. Results: Baldness, thoracic hairiness and earlobe crease were ∼40% more prevalent in cases ( P