Clinical analysis and classification of dark eye circle

Abstract

Dark eye circle (DEC) is a common problem that usually lacks detailed classification in the etiology and structural variations. A newly-developed DEC Assessment Score using Wood's lamp and ultrasonogram will provide a more precise evaluation of DEC for improving treatment results. Sixty-five cases, including eight males and 57 females with a mean age of 38.9 years, were enrolled. DEC were classified into pigmented (brown), vascular (blue to purple), structural, and mixed type by Wood's lamp and ultrasonogram. A scoring system with nine parameters, including brown hue, pigmented lesions, blue/pink/purple hue, periorbital puffiness, shadow hue, infraorbital palpebral bags, infraorbital grooves, blepharoptosis, and skin type, was used for clinical evaluation. Pigmented, vascular, structural, and mixed types of DEC represented 5%, 14%, 3%, and 78%, respectively. Thirty-three cases with periorbital puffiness were found to have higher "pre-septal thickness" than those of 20 controlled cases (P = 0.032). Fourteen patients with infraorbital palpebral bags were proved to have protruded retroseptal fat pads by ultrasonography. Pigmentation and vascular and structural components may play important roles in DEC. Detailed classification of DEC types will access physicians in the decision of appropriate therapeutic modalities.