Age and sex related measurement of craniofacial soft tissue thickness and nasal profile in the Chinese population

The purpose of this study was to acquire accurate data of craniofacial soft tissue thickness (CFSTT) and nasal profile in Chinese people of Han population. A total of 31 anatomical landmarks and 4 nasal profile parameters were determined using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 425 subjects (233 males and 192 females). In the present study, the mean CFSTT values of male subjects exceeded those of female subjects at most anatomical landmarks except at seven (22.58%) and 6 out of the 7 landmarks were bilateral anatomical landmark points. The age-related and sex × age interactions were found to be statistically significant at all landmarks. Significant differences were found in the nasal profile data of males and females, and 15 out of 20 different groups had significant differences between sexes, and the mean values of nasal length, nasal height, nasal depth and nasal breadth in males were all greater than those in females. Furthermore, both CFSTT and nasal profile showed good correlation with age. The thickest CFSTT of male and female were found at the respective ages of 45-59 and 35-44, and the nasal profile becomes more constant after 24 years of age. CFSTT of the lower part of the face shows greater variation compared to the upper part, so special care needs to be applied when reconstructing the lower portion of the face. Our data on CFSTT and nasal profile for the Chinese Xi'an Han population is important in understanding craniofacial characteristics of the Chinese population and might be potentially helpful in forensic identification.