Dear Sir,

Ear lobe is an important attribute of beauty and ear lobe decoration with earrings is a common practice (1). Cleft of ear lobe in any form affects Facial cosmesis. Congenital cleft of ear lobe is a rare occurrence. Recurrence of cleft in siblings of same family has not been described in literature. We present a case of siblings, both females, who had cleft of ear lobe involving same side, left in this case, and of almost same severity.

This was a case of two real sisters, aged 7 years and 9 years, who presented with congenital deformity of left ear lobe. There was no history of trauma, ear discharge or hearing impairment from the involved ear. On examination there was incomplete cleft involving the distal third of left ear lobule. There was no cartilaginous deformity.

Figure 1

Both sisters were operated the same day. Under general anesthesia, wedge excision with closure with ‘Z’ plasty was done.

The external ear is formed from six hillocks on the first (mandibular) and second (hyoid) branchial arch. It has been proposed that the cleft of ear lobe is caused by the arrest of fusion between the mandibular and hyoid lobular hillocks. Multiple techniques of repair have been described in literature depending on the severity of cleft (2). In this case cleft of similar type occurred in two real sisters which is a rarity.