Frank's sign and paired ear creases of the helix : Current concepts of significance for morbidity.

Abstract

Frank's sign (FS) was described in 1973 as an auricular marker for cardiovascular disease presenting as acrease of the auricular lobule. Since its first clinical description, there have been multiple studies underlining the role of FS in amyriad of conditions, such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral artery disease, metabolic diseases as well as studies looking at physiological differences in the auricular shape that may mimic FS; however, acomplex study to comprehensively analyze the clinical, gross, and histological findings of patients with FS has not yet been performed. Most studies focused on aspecific system, mechanism of disease entry. This short review tries to summarize the current knowledge of FS in relation to diseases as well as its clinical classification, histology, and association with the recently described paired ear creases of the helix, as an attempt to reveal the dubious role of FS as a possible prognostic and predictive marker.