Dermatological indicators of coronary risk: a case-control study

Objective: We examined the association of dermatological signs such as bald ness, 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 n oncardiac diagnoses, without clinical signs of coronary disease. The relati ve risks were estimated as odds ratios. Logistic regression was used to con trol for the confounding variables. Results: Baldness, thoracic hairiness a nd earlobe crease were similar to 40% more prevalent in cases (P < 10(-6) i n each case). In both cases and controls, baldness and thoracic hairiness w ere frequently coexistent, as well as hair greying and earlobe crease (P < 10(-4) in each case). After allowing for age and other established coronary risk factors, the relative risk of myocardial infarction for fronto-pariet al baldness compared with no hair loss was 1.77 (95% CI 1.27-2.45) and it w as 1.83 (95 CI 1.4-2.3) for men with thick, extended thoracic hairiness. Th e presence of a diagonal earlobe crease yielded a relative risk of 1.37 (95 % CI 1.25-1.5), while hair greying was associated with myocardial infarctio n only in men under the age of 50 years. Conclusion: It appears that baldne ss, thoracic hairiness and diagonal earlobe crease indicate an additional r isk of myocardial infarction in men under the age of 60 years, independentl y of age and other established coronary risk factors. (C) 1998 Elsevier Sci ence Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.