Hereditary elliptocytosis, also known as ovalocytosis, is an inherited blood disorder in which an abnormally large number of the persons red blood cells are elliptical rather than the typical biconcave disc shape. Such morphologically distinctive erythrocytes are sometimes referred to as elliptocytes or ovalocytes. It is one of many red-cell membrane defects. In its severe forms, this disorder predisposes to haemolytic anaemia. Although pathological in humans, elliptocytosis is normal in camelids. Presentation
Pathophysiology
Common hereditary elliptocytosis
A number of genes have been linked to common hereditary elliptocytosis (many involve the same gene as forms of Hereditary spherocytosis, or HS):

These mutations have a common end result; they destabilise the cytoskeletal scaffold of cells. This stability is especially important in erythrocytes as they are constantly under the influence of deforming shear forces. As disc-shaped erythrocytes pass through capillaries, which can be 2-3 micrometres wide, they are forced to assume an elliptical shape in order to fit through. Normally, this deformation lasts only as long as a cell is present in a capillary, but in hereditary elliptocytosis the instability of the cytoskeleton means that erythrocytes deformed by passing through a capillary are forever rendered elliptical. These elliptical cells are taken up by the spleen and removed from circulation when they are younger than they would normally be, meaning that the erythrocytes of people with hereditary elliptocytosis have a shorter than average life-span (a normal persons erythrocytes average 120 days or more).
Auricular hypertrichosis (hypertrichosis lanuginosa acquisita, hypertrichosis pinnae auris) is a genetic condition expressed as long and strong hairs growing from the helix of the pinna. Presentation
Ear hair  generally refers to the terminal hair arising from follicles inside the external auditory meatus in humans. In its broader sense, ear hair may also include the fine vellus hair covering much of the ear, particularly at the prominent parts of the anterior ear, or even the abnormal hair growth as seen in hypertrichosis and hirsutism. Medical research on the function of ear hair is currently very scarce. Hair growth within the ear canal is often observed to increase in older men, together with increased growth of nose hair. Excessive hair growth within or on the ear is known medically as auricular hypertrichosis. Some men, particularly in the male population of India, have coarse hair growth along the lower portion of the helix, a condition referred to as "having hairy pinnae" (hypertrichosis lanuginosa acquisita). Genetics
The genetic basis of auricular hypertrichosis has not been settled. Some researchers have proposed a Y-linked pattern of inheritance and others have suggested an autosomal gene is responsible. A third hypothesis predicts the phenotype results from the interaction of two loci, one on the homologous part of the X and Y and one on the nonhomologous sequence of the Y. These hypotheses are not mutually exclusive, and there may be a variety of genetic mechanisms underlying this phenotype. Lee et al.