Preventive diagnosis of high blood pressure using the atrial fold

Abstract

Foundation: Natural and Traditional Medicine doctors’ appointment are frequently attended by patients referred from different specialties, with or without a history of suffering from chronic hypertensive diseases. A careful observation of the earlobe allows us to determine whether these patients suffer from high blood pressure. Hence the importance of studying the relationship between the presence of the earlobe fold and the appearance of hypertensive diseases.Objective: determine the effectiveness of the auricular fold presence in the early diagnosis of hypertensive disease.Methods: a descriptive study was carried out in patients who attended the Natural and Traditional Medicine Department of the “Arnaldo Milián Castro” Provincial Clinical Surgical Hospital and the Villa Clara Sports Medicine Center, from February/2021 to November/2023. The population was all patients who attended these doctors’ appointment, with the presence of the auricular fold and who did not suffer from high blood pressure. The sample was formed through intentional non-probabilistic sampling by criteria, and consisted of 88 patients.Results: the 50-59 years age group, male sex and black skin color prevailed. Deep auricular folds occurred most frequently (62.7%). At one year, 67% of the patients had developed arterial hypertension, especially after 9 months (20.5%) of observation of the skinfold.Conclusions: the presence of the auricular fold constitutes a reliable skin marker for the preventive diagnosis of hypertensive disease.

Keywords

• pabellón auricular
• hipertensión
• medicina tradicional
• técnicas diagnósticas cardiovasculares
• diagnóstico precoz