Measurement of epidermis, dermis, and total skin thicknesses from six different body regions with a new ethical histometric technique

Introduction: Although it is important to know the normal values of dermis, epidermis, or total skin thicknesses (ST) for some drugs and vaccine research, skin-related clinical investigations, and skin transfer operations used in plastic surgery, it would not be ethical to take new biopsies from healthy volunteers to measure their ST. This study aims to describe a new ethical histometric technique for the measurement of skin layers and to determine the mean ST of some major body regions in the people living in our region. Materials and Methods: A total of 180 skin samples from six major body regions of 90 males and 90 females were enrolled in the study. The measurements were performed histometrically from appropriate skin samples obtained from the pathology archive. The samples were classified according to the six different parts of the body (scalp, abdomen, back, dorsum of foot, dorsum of hand, and the breast). Results: The mean epidermal thickness ranged from 76.9 ± 26.2 to 267.4 ± 120.6 μm. The thickest epidermis was found in the dorsum of foot in women (267.4 ± 120.6 μm) while the thinnest was found in the breast in women (76.9 ± 26.2 μm). The mean dermal thickness ranged from 2115 ± 946.4 to 5888 ± 2422.3 μm. The thickest dermis was found in the breast in men (5888 ± 2422.3 μm), while the thinnest dermis was found in the dorsum of hand in women (2115 ± 946.4 μm). Conclusions: Human ST varies according to ethnic origin. It was determined that the dermis and epidermis of Anatolian people are thicker than that of the previously reported other ethnic groups. The skin pathology archive can be used to create maps of the body's skin structure.