Determination of Blood Flow in Superficial Arteries of Human Face using Doppler Ultrasonography in Young Adults

Abstract

Background: Human face is highly vascular region and vascularity to the skin and other organs is an important indicator of health and disease. Change in blood flow is affected by aging, diabetes, high blood triglycerides, cigarette smoking etc. With so many factors that can alter blood flow in the skin, normal blood flow is important to know for comparison to diseased state. Blood flow in superficial arteries of face has not yet been described, therefore this study was designed to establish baseline blood flow values in arteries of face.
 Materials and Methods: Blood flow of right and left side was assessed at level of facial and infraorbital artery. Categorical variables were presented in form of frequency and percentages was done by using Mann-Whitney U. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test was used to compare left and right facial and infra orbital arteries.
 Results: Peak systolic velocity of right and left facial artery had a significant difference having right side mean of 67.02±12.48 and left side mean as 72.67±11.69. Facial artery diameter of right and left side also had significant difference with mean of 0.14±0.02 and 0.15±0.02 respectively.
 Conclusion: No difference was found between vascularity in male & female and left or right side. The study might be useful to establish normal baseline values of various parameters on both sides of face in male and female adults. This study may become important reference for future studies measuring blood flow and even progression of vascular diseases may be assessed by indexes developed on the basis of these studies.