The Persian woman's face: a photogrammetric analysis.

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to establish normative quantitative anthropometric measurements of the Persian woman's face and assess differences from established North American White women's measurements.

METHODS

Standard photographs (frontal, left lateral, and base views) of 107 Persian women volunteers (both parents of Persian ancestry) between the ages of 18 and 40 were digitally acquired. Twenty-six standard anthropometric measurements were obtained using Adobe Photoshop. The results were compared with those previously published for North American White women using an unpaired t test with differences being considered significant if p<0.05.

RESULTS

A statistically significant difference was found between Persian women and North American White women in 18 of 26 anthropometric measurements.

CONCLUSION

The anthropometric differences between Persian women and North American White women reflect fundamental differences in the osseochondrous scaffold and soft tissue covering of the face. These differences partially account for the disharmony and loss of ethnic identity that occurs when surgery is planned using classical canons. For patients wishing to maintain their ethnic features following aesthetic surgery, access to ethnicity-specific normative anthropometric data will help guide the surgeon to achieve this goal.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE III

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