Frank's sign or Frank sign is a diagonal ear lobe crease (ELC) extending diagonally from the tragus across the lobule to the rear edge of the auricle.
It has been hypothesised that Frank's sign is indicative of cardiovascular disease and/or diabetes. Some studies have described Frank's sign as a marker of cardiovascular disease but not linked to the severity of the condition. In contrast, other studies have rebutted any association between Frank's sign and coronary artery disease.
However, researchers do agree that these creases have no predictive value in Native American Indian and Asian patients.
Some studies have focused upon bilateral ELC.
The sign is named after Dr. Sanders T. Frank.
Read more about Frank's Sign: Severity, Notable Individuals With Frank's Sign, Links To Images
Famous quotes containing the words frank and/or sign:
“I have often been downcast, but never in despair; I regard our hiding as a dangerous adventure, romantic and interesting at the same time. In my diary I treat all the privations as amusing. I have made up my mind now to lead a different life from other girls and, later on, different from ordinary housewives. My start has been so very full of interest, and that is the sole reason why I have to laugh at the humorous side of the most dangerous moments.”
—Anne Frank (1929–1945)
“It is at the same time by poetry and through poetry, by and through music, that the soul glimpses the splendors found behind the tomb; and when an exquisite poem brings tears to one’s eyes, these tears are not the sign of excessive pleasure, they are rather witness to an irritated melancholy, to a condition of nerves, to a nature exiled to imperfection and which would like to seize immediately, on this very earth, a revealed paradise.”
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)