Objective     To investigate the correlation of healthy skin thickness with factors of age

anatomic site and gender

and to compare the thickness difference between healthy skin and skin lesion in children with port-wine stains (PWS) using high frequency ultrasonic imaging. Methods      A total of 60 children diagnosed with PWS in our department admitted in October 2014 to June 2015 were selected as subjects. They were randomly divided into groups based on the gender (boys and girls) and age (infant 0~2 years old

preschool age 3~6 years old

and school age 7~12 years). Each group was subdivided into healthy skin and skin lesion groups. High-frequency ultrasound examination (DermaLab Combo

Cortex

Denmark) was applied to measure the skin thickness at different ages

anatomic sites and gender groups. Meanwhile

the thickness difference in healthy skin and skin lesion among different age groups was compared. Results        We found that in healthy group: ① The skin thickness of boys and girls were 855.34±100.63 and 861.58±100.84 μm respectively. No statistical difference was found between the 2 groups (P0.05); ② The skin thickness in different body parts was statistically different (P0.05). The thickest and thinnest regions were located in the shoulder and neck

with 1 083.23±76.44  and 716.70±56.67 μm respectively; ③ The skin thickness was increased with age

i.e. with infant 822.09±106.99 μm

preschool age of 895.79±10.197 9 μm

and school age of 962.49±107.50 μm. The difference among different age groups was significant; ④ Analogous to the healthy group

skin thickness was agedependent in skin lesion group and the difference was statistically significant among the infant (885.85±96.84 μm)

preschool (988.43±94.64 μm)

and school groups (1 100.55±153.98 μm); ⑤ The skin thickness of the same age group was significantly different between the healthy and skin lesion groups

and the skin thickness was thicker in lesion versus healthy group. Conclusion     Highfrequency ultrasound imaging can accurately measure the thickness of healthy and lesion skin in children with PWS. Healthy skin thickness is correlated with anatomic sites and age but not gender. Moreover

skin thickness is positively correlated to age

and is thicker in lesion group than in healthy group.