Penna Vincenzo, Stark G -Björn, Eisenhardt Steffen U, Bannasch Holger, Iblher Niklas
Freiburg, Germany From the Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, University Medical Center Freiburg, and the Erich Lexer Clinic.
Plast Reconstr Surg. 2009 Aug;124(2):624-628. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0b013e3181addc06.
Upper lip rejuvenation is achieved by a large variety of different treatment approaches that clearly lack a unified theoretical background of the aging processes of the upper lip complex. In this study, the histological changes that occur in the aging upper lip were systematically evaluated for the first time.
Histological cross-cuts of the upper lip complex of 20 individuals in two age groups, young (<40 years, n = 10) and old (>80 years, n = 10), were analyzed. The specimens were collected during the autopsies of individuals with no facial injuries. Hematoxylin-eosin and elastica van Gieson staining was performed, and the relevant anatomical structures were measured and compared using Student's t test.
Histomorphometric analysis revealed statistically significant thinning of the cutis, thinning of the orbicularis oris muscle, and an increase of the orbicularis oris muscle angle defining the vermilion border in the old lip group. Elastic and collagen fibers in the cutis undergo degeneration processes during aging. The orbicularis oris muscle is not subject to fatty or fibroblastic degeneration, but shows signs of atrophy.
The histomorphometric and histomorphological analyses shed light on the, so far, only unsystematically and episodically described process of upper lip aging on a histological level. The distinct changes add further evidence to the theory that the aged look is due to a loss of elasticity and resultant ptosis of the upper lip rather than to often-postulated but unproven total volume loss.
上唇年轻化可通过多种不同的治疗方法实现，但这些方法显然缺乏关于上唇复合体衰老过程的统一理论背景。在本研究中，首次对上唇衰老过程中发生的组织学变化进行了系统评估。
分析了两个年龄组（年轻组，<40岁，n = 10；老年组，>80岁，n = 10）中20名个体的上唇复合体组织学切片。标本取自无面部损伤个体的尸检过程。进行苏木精-伊红染色和弹性纤维染色，并使用学生t检验对相关解剖结构进行测量和比较。
组织形态计量学分析显示，老年组上唇的表皮显著变薄，口轮匝肌变薄，界定唇红缘的口轮匝肌角度增加。表皮中的弹性纤维和胶原纤维在衰老过程中发生退变。口轮匝肌未发生脂肪或成纤维细胞退变，但显示出萎缩迹象。
组织形态计量学和组织形态学分析揭示了迄今为止仅在组织学层面上进行过非系统和偶发性描述的上唇衰老过程。这些明显的变化进一步证明了以下理论，即衰老面容是由于上唇弹性丧失和由此导致的上唇下垂，而非通常所假设但未经证实的总体积减少。
