MEASUREMENTS OF UPPER EYELID AND EYEBROW DIMENSIONS IN HEALTHY WHITE INDIVIDUALS

Facial appearance is influenced by the anatomic relationship of the ey ebrow and eyelid, and surgical procedures on these structures attempt to restore or preserve not only symmetry but also normal appearance. T o provide useful benchmarks for such interventions, we measured the ey ebrow height, upper eyelid crease height, and amount of visible pretar sal skin of 143 white subjects who had no facial abnormalities. An age effect was observed for all measures, indicating a direct relationshi p with age until the middle age range (41 to 60 years), when mean esti mates leveled off or decreased somewhat relative to younger age groups . Within the 41- to 60-year age group, for example, the average (S.D.) values for pretarsal skin height, eyelid crease height, and eyebrow h eight were 1.4 mm (1.1 mm), 6.4 mm (1.2 mm), and 6.4 mm (1.8 mm), resp ectively. Eyebrow and pretarsal skin heights were greater in females t han males, and eyelid crease height showed similar gender-related tren ds. With increasing age, variation around the mean estimates for eyeli d and eyebrow measurement increased, which may be indicative of variab ility across individuals in the physiologic response to the aging proc ess. As expected, a high degree of intereye correlation was observed ( correlation coefficients of 0.87 to 0.96). These results emphasize the importance of providing a normal anatomic relationship that relates t o the patient's age and gender, as well as an outcome that is symmetri c, in corrective or cosmetic procedures on the eyelid and eyebrow.