Relationship between the echogenicity of subcutaneous tissue and the depth of eye corner wrinkles

Background/purpose: A close relationship was found between the internal structure of subcutaneous tissue and wrinkle depth in our previous study of human forehead. The present study examined the relationship in the eye corner. Methods: One hundred and seventy‐three Japanese subjects were divided into four age groups (21–28 years, 35–41 years, 47–59 years and 65–75 years). The maximum wrinkle depth (R_max) of an eye corner wrinkle was obtained. On an ultrasound image, which was captured by scanning perpendicular to the wrinkle, we set a 12.5‐mm‐wide region of interest (ROI) by aligning the deepest point of the wrinkle at its center and then obtained the ratio of the area exceeding an echogenicity threshold to the total area as the echogenicity. Results: No correlation was found between the R_max and echogenicity. The relationship was further analyzed by dividing the ROI into two: one above and the other below the deepest point of the wrinkle. A negative correlation was detected in the lower ROI of the oldest group. The difference in echogenicity between the upper and the lower ROIs of the oldest group showed a positive correlation with the R_max. Conclusion: These results suggest that the subcutaneous tissue structure is related to wrinkle depth.