Application of ultrasound biomicroscopy on skin assessment in normal adults and psoriasis patients

Abstract

Objective To investigate the features of normal and psoriasis skin on ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) and explore the method of thickness measurement. Methods Using 50 MHz ultrasound probe of biological microscope, ultrasonographic observation and ultrasonic thickness measurement were conducted in 90 normal adults and 40 psoriasis patients. Innormal patients, ultrasound evaluations were performed at 10 different parts of the body skin. Results On sonogram, the normal skin showed a sandwich structure with two parallel hyperechoic bands and the middle isoechoic dots and short liens. The sonograms of the psoriasis skin showed obviously thickened epidermis and dermis, disordered internal structure and clear boundary from adjacent normal skin. The range of the epidermis’ thickness measurement was between the medial forearm (0.12±0.03) mm and the palm (0.29±0.15) mm. The range of dermal thickness measurement was between the back hand (1.18±0.32) mm and parasternal (1.55±0.21) mm. Psoriasis skin was thicker than the uninvolved skin (P<0.001). And the dermis’ thickness of uninvolved skin in psoriasis patients was thicker than that of the normal adults (P<0.001). Conclusion Normal adult’s epidermis, dermis and skin appendages can be shown clearly using 50 MHz ultrasound biomicroscopy. And ultrasound biomicroscopy canaccurately measure the thickness of dermis and epidermis, which provides the basis for the diagnosis and treatment of psoriasis. Key words: Microscopy, acoustic; Ultrasonography; Skin; Psoriasis