Development and Validation of a Photonumeric Scale for Evaluation of Static Horizontal Forehead Lines

Optimizing Botulinum Toxin A Administration for Forehead Wrinkles: Introducing the Lines and Dots (LADs) Technique and a Predictive Dosage Model

This study introduces the Lines and Dots (LADs) technique, a new approach for administering botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) in treating forehead wrinkles. (1) Background: BoNT-A application patterns in the forehead often rely solely on the anatomy of the frontalis muscle. The LADs technique proposes a combination of anatomical features with nerve pathways. (2) Methods: The technique employed a grid system aligned with the supraorbital and supratrochlear nerve pathways and used an electronic acupuncture pen for validation. This study analyzed treatment outcomes for efficacy and safety and proposed a predictive model for BoNT-A dosage. (3) Results: LADs was associated with a high satisfaction rate and low side effect incidence. The predictive model followed BoNT-A Units=0.322×Muscle Pattern Code+1.282×Line Type Code+2.905×Severity Pre-Treatment+3.947. (4) Conclusions: The LADs technique offers an alternative approach to treating forehead wrinkles, optimizing efficacy while minimizing the BoNT-A dose required.

Development and Validation of a Photonumeric Scale to Assess Marionette Lines

BACKGROUND

A validated scale is needed for objective and reproducible comparisons of marionette lines before and after treatment in clinical studies.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the development and validation of a 5-point photonumeric marionette lines scale.

METHODS

The scale was developed to include an assessment guide, verbal descriptors, and real and morphed subject images for each scale grade. Intrarater and interrater reliability was evaluated in initial scale validation (web-based review) ( N = 51 ) and live-subject validation ( N = 75 ) studies, each completed during 2 sessions.

RESULTS

In the initial scale validation study, intrarater agreement for 2 physician raters was near perfect (weighted kappa = 0.92 and 0.94). Interrater agreement was excellent during sessions 1 and 2 (intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.94 and 0.95, respectively). In the live-subject validation study, intrarater agreement for 3 physician raters showed a strong correlation (mean weighted kappa = 0.77). Interrater agreement was high during live-subject validation sessions 1 and 2 (intraclass correlation coefficients = 0.89 for both sessions).

CONCLUSION

This new marionette lines scale is a validated and reliable scale for physician rating of marionette line severity.

Novel Validated Five-point Photonumeric Scales for Assessment of Static and Dynamic Forehead Lines

Background

The objective of this investigation was to create and validate five-point photonumeric scales which assess static and dynamic forehead lines.

Methods

Two different novel five-point photonumeric scales for the assessment of static and dynamic forehead lines were developed. Moreover, a photoguide was created, including subjects from both sexes, all age groups, and different Fitzpatrick skin types. A total of 11 raters from all over the world were involved in the digital validation, whereas four raters performed a live validation.

Results

The Croma Static Forehead Lines-Assessment Scale showed almost perfect inter and intra-rater agreement in both the digital and the live setting with inter-rater intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.86 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.82-0.89] in the first digital rating and 0.82 [95% CI: 0.78-0.86] in the second digital rating. The Croma Dynamic Forehead Lines-Assessment Scale showed almost perfect inter and intra-rater agreement in the digital setting with inter-rater intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.83 [95% CI: 0.79-0.86] in the first digital rating and 0.80 [95% CI: 0.75-0.84] in the second rating and almost substantial agreement in the live setting.

Conclusions

The Croma Static Forehead Lines-Assessment Scale and the Croma Dynamic Forehead Lines-Assessment Scale have excellent inter and intra-rater agreements to be justifiably used in the clinical and study setting, both digitally and live across ethnic groups.

The Use of Validated Visual Scales in Plastic Surgery: Where Are We Now?

BACKGROUND

The assessment of the human body, whether for aesthetic or reconstructive purposes, is an inherently visual endeavor. Ideally, reproducible, prompt, and cost-effective systems of visual evaluation would exist that can provide validated assessments of the aesthetic endpoints of treatment. One method to accomplish a standardization of the appreciation of visual endpoints is the use of visual scales. The goal of this systematic review is to summarize and evaluate the use of validated visual scales within aesthetic medicine, dermatology, and plastic and reconstructive surgery.

METHODS

A literature search was performed with a defined search strategy and extensive manual screening process. The Medical Outcomes Trust guidelines for visual scales in medicine were used, with special attention paid to each study's validation metrics. The review process identified 44 publications with validation data of sufficient quality from an initial survey of 27,745 articles. All rating scales based on imaging other than standardized clinical photographs were excluded.

RESULTS

The review demonstrates that validated visual assessment in plastic surgery is incomplete. Within specific subfields of aesthetic medicine and dermatology, many of the ( n = 20) facial aging scales were well-validated and demonstrated high reliability. Publications ( n = 8) focused on the evaluation of facial clefts demonstrated heterogeneity in the methods of validation and in overall reliability. Within the areas of breast surgery ( n = 9), body contouring ( n = 2), and scarring ( n = 5), the scales were variable in the methods used and the validation procedures were diverse. Scales using a visual guide tended to have better interrater (kappa = 0.75) and intrarater reliability (kappa = 0.78), regardless of the specific area of interest.

CONCLUSIONS

The fields of aesthetic medicine, and aesthetic and reconstructive plastic surgery require assessment of visual states over time and between many observers. For these reasons, the development of validated and reliable methods of visual assessment are critical. Until recently, the use of these tools has been limited by their time-consuming nature and cost.

A new treatment for static forehead rhytides: Autologous fibroblast and keratin injection

OBJECTIVE

To assess the effectiveness of injection of autologous keratin gel and fibroblast for static forehead rhytides rectification as new soft tissue filler.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Totally, 48 volunteers suffering static forehead rhytides received the injection of autologous keratin and fibroblast, and 6 volunteers received botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) and hyaluronic acid (HA) treatment as parallel control. The follow-up study was carried out at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after treatment, and photographs and satisfactions questionnaire were collected and assessed. All volunteers were independently assessed by blinded evaluators using global aesthetic improvement scores (GAIS). One-way Anova was used for statistical analysis, and the significant level was α=0.05).

RESULTS

The static forehead rhytides were improved observably after the treatment. It still showed good result even at month 24 after the injection. There are no severe adverse effects observed in the whole procedure.

CONCLUSION

Autologous fibroblast and keratin combined injection might be an ideal therapy in mini-invasive plastic injection area, which is safe and effective for static forehead rhytides correction, and has a long-term efficacy.

Performance of intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) as a reliability index under various distributions in scale reliability studies

Many published scale validation studies determine inter‐rater reliability using the intra‐class correlation coefficient (ICC). However, the use of this statistic must consider its advantages, limitations, and applicability. This paper evaluates how interaction of subject distribution, sample size, and levels of rater disagreement affects ICC and provides an approach for obtaining relevant ICC estimates under suboptimal conditions. Simulation results suggest that for a fixed number of subjects, ICC from the convex distribution is smaller than ICC for the uniform distribution, which in turn is smaller than ICC for the concave distribution. The variance component estimates also show that the dissimilarity of ICC among distributions is attributed to the study design (ie, distribution of subjects) component of subject variability and not the scale quality component of rater error variability. The dependency of ICC on the distribution of subjects makes it difficult to compare results across reliability studies. Hence, it is proposed that reliability studies should be designed using a uniform distribution of subjects because of the standardization it provides for representing objective disagreement. In the absence of uniform distribution, a sampling method is proposed to reduce the non‐uniformity. In addition, as expected, high levels of disagreement result in low ICC, and when the type of distribution is fixed, any increase in the number of subjects beyond a moderately large specification such as n = 80 does not have a major impact on ICC.

Development and Validation of a Photonumeric Scale for Evaluation of Transverse Neck Lines

BACKGROUND

A validated scale is needed for objective and reproducible comparisons of horizontal neck lines before and after treatment in practice and clinical studies.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the development and validation of the 5-point photonumeric Allergan Transverse Neck Lines Scale.

METHODS

The Allergan Transverse Neck Lines Scale was developed to include an assessment guide, verbal descriptors, morphed images, and real subject images for each scale grade. The clinical significance of a 1-point score difference was evaluated in a review of multiple image pairs representing varying differences in severity. Interrater and intrarater reliability was evaluated in a live-subject rating validation study (N = 297) completed during 2 sessions occurring 3 weeks apart.

RESULTS

A difference of ≥1 point on the scale was shown to reflect a clinically significant difference (mean [95% confidence interval] absolute score difference, 1.22 [1.09–1.35] for clinically different image pairs and 0.57 [0.42–0.72] for not clinically different pairs). Intrarater agreement between the 2 live-subject rating validation sessions was substantial (mean weighted kappa = 0.78). Interrater agreement was substantial during the second rating session (0.73, primary end point).

CONCLUSION

The Allergan Transverse Neck Lines Scale is a validated and reliable scale for rating of severity of neck lines.

Development and Validation of a Photonumeric Scale for Evaluation of Volume Deficit of the Hand

BACKGROUND

A validated scale is needed for objective and reproducible comparisons of hand appearance before and after treatment in practice and clinical studies.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the development and validation of the 5-point photonumeric Allergan Hand Volume Deficit Scale.

METHODS

The scale was developed to include an assessment guide, verbal descriptors, morphed images, and real-subject images for each grade. The clinical significance of a 1-point score difference was evaluated in a review of image pairs representing varying differences in severity. Interrater and intrarater reliability was evaluated in a live-subject validation study (N = 296) completed during 2 sessions occurring 3 weeks apart.

RESULTS

A score difference of ≥1 point was shown to reflect a clinically significant difference (mean [95% confidence interval] absolute score difference, 1.12 [0.99–1.26] for clinically different image pairs and 0.45 [0.33–0.57] for not clinically different pairs). Intrarater agreement between the 2 validation sessions was almost perfect (mean weighted kappa = 0.83). Interrater agreement was almost perfect during the second session (0.82, primary end point).

CONCLUSION

The Allergan Hand Volume Deficit Scale is a validated and reliable scale for physician rating of hand volume deficit.

Development and Validation of a Photonumeric Scale for Assessment of Chin Retrusion

BACKGROUND

A validated scale is needed for objective and reproducible comparisons of chin appearance before and after chin augmentation in practice and clinical studies.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the development and validation of the 5-point photonumeric Allergan Chin Retrusion Scale.

METHODS

The Allergan Chin Retrusion Scale was developed to include an assessment guide, verbal descriptors, morphed images, and real subject images for each scale grade. The clinical significance of a 1-point score difference was evaluated in a review of multiple image pairs representing varying differences in severity. Interrater and intrarater reliability was evaluated in a live-subject validation study (N = 298) completed during 2 sessions occurring 3 weeks apart.

RESULTS

A difference of ≥1 point on the scale was shown to reflect a clinically meaningful difference (mean [95% confidence interval] absolute score difference, 1.07 [0.94–1.20] for clinically different image pairs and 0.51 [0.39–0.63] for not clinically different pairs). Intrarater agreement between the 2 live-subject validation sessions was substantial (mean weighted kappa = 0.79). Interrater agreement was substantial during the second rating session (0.68, primary end point).

CONCLUSION

The Allergan Chin Retrusion Scale is a validated and reliable scale for physician rating of severity of chin retrusion.

Development and Validation of a Photonumeric Scale for Evaluation of Facial Skin Texture

BACKGROUND

A validated scale is needed for objective and reproducible comparisons of facial skin roughness before and after aesthetic treatment in practice and in clinical studies.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the development and validation of the 5-point photonumeric Allergan Skin Roughness Scale.

METHODS

The scale was developed to include an assessment guide, verbal descriptors, morphed images, and real subject images for each grade. The clinical significance of a 1-point score difference was evaluated in a review of image pairs representing varying differences in severity. Interrater and intrarater reliability was evaluated in a live-subject validation study (N = 290) completed during 2 sessions occurring 3 weeks apart.

RESULTS

A score difference of ≥1 point was shown to reflect a clinically meaningful difference (mean [95% confidence interval] absolute score difference 1.09 [0.96–1.23] for clinically different image pairs and 0.53 [0.38–0.67] for not clinically different pairs). Intrarater agreement between the 2 validation sessions was almost perfect (weighted kappa = 0.83). Interrater agreement was almost perfect during the second rating session (0.81, primary end point).

CONCLUSION

The Allergan Skin Roughness Scale is a validated and reliable scale for physician rating of midface skin roughness.

Effect of Topical Fluorouracil Cream on Photodamage: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance

Photoaging, which is premature skin aging caused by long-term UV exposure, is of aesthetic concern to many patients.

Objective

To investigate the effect of topical fluorouracil, 5%, cream on photoaging using validated photonumeric scales.

Design, Setting, and Participants

The Veterans Affairs Keratinocyte Carcinoma Chemoprevention Trial was a randomized clinical trial of 932 US veterans with a recent history of 2 or more keratinocyte carcinomas performed from September 30, 2011, through June 30, 2014, to assess the chemopreventive effects of a standard course of topical fluorouracil. Photographs were taken at baseline and at numerous time points for up to 4 years. In our secondary analysis, 2 independent dermatologists graded these photographs using 4 validated photonumeric scales. A total of 3042 photographs from 281 participants randomized to apply topical fluorouracil or placebo were evaluated at baseline, 6 months, 12 months, and 18 months using 4 photonumeric scales (Griffiths scale, Allergan forehead lines scale, melomental folds scale, and crow's feet scale). Data analysis was performed from November 1, 2016, to January 1, 2017.

Interventions

Participants were randomized to apply topical fluorouracil, 5%, cream or a vehicle control cream to the face and ears twice daily for 2 to 4 weeks for a total of 28 to 56 doses.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Effect of a standard course of fluorouracil on the extent of photodamage as measured using 4 photonumeric scales.

Results

The study population was predominantly male (274 [97.5%]) and white (281 [100%]), with a mean (SD) age of 71.5 (0.57) years. No statistically significant changes were found in photodamage between baseline and 6 months (Griffiths scale: χ2 = 0.01, P = .93; Allergan forehead lines scale: χ2 = 0.18, P = .67; melomental fold scale: χ2 = 0.03, P = .87; crow's feet scale: χ2 = 2.41, P = .12), 12 months (Griffiths scale: χ2 = 1.39, P = .24; Allergan forehead lines scale: χ2 = 0.64, P = .43; melomental fold scale: χ2 = 0.12, P = .73; crow's feet scale: χ2 = 1.07, P = .30), and 18 months (Griffiths scale: χ2 = 3.11, P = .08; Allergan forehead lines scale: χ2 = 0.89, P = .34; melomental fold scale: χ2 = 1.64, P = .20; crow's feet scale: χ2 = 0.46, P = .50).

Conclusions and Relevance

This study did not demonstrate improvement in photoaging with a standard course of topical fluorouracil, 5%, cream, a finding that may be attributable to a true lack of effect in photodamage or limitations of the photonumeric scales in capturing the effect. The development of photonumeric scales that include manifestations of photoaging other than rhytids, such as lentigines, hyperpigmentation, and telangiectasias, should be considered.

Trial Registration

clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00847912.

Development and Validation of a Photonumeric Scale for Evaluation of Volume Deficit of the Temple

BACKGROUND

A validated scale is needed for objective and reproducible comparisons of temple appearance before and after aesthetic treatment in practice and clinical studies.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the development and validation of the 5-point photonumeric Allergan Temple Hollowing Scale.

METHODS

The scale was developed to include an assessment guide, verbal descriptors, morphed images, and real subject images for each grade. The clinical significance of a 1-point score difference was evaluated in a review of image pairs representing varying differences in severity. Interrater and intrarater reliability was evaluated in a live-subject validation study (N = 298) completed during 2 sessions occurring 3 weeks apart.

RESULTS

A score difference of ≥1 point was shown to reflect a clinically significant difference (mean [95% confidence interval] absolute score difference, 1.1 [0.94-1.26] for clinically different image pairs and 0.67 [0.51-0.83] for not clinically different pairs). Intrarater agreement between the 2 validation sessions was almost perfect (mean weighted kappa = 0.86). Interrater agreement was almost perfect during the second session (0.81, primary endpoint).

CONCLUSION

The Allergan Temple Hollowing Scale is a validated and reliable scale for physician rating of temple volume deficit.

Development and Validation of a Photonumeric Scale for Evaluation of Facial Fine Lines

BACKGROUND

A validated scale is needed for objective and reproducible comparisons of facial fine lines before and after treatment in practice and clinical studies.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the development and validation of the 5-point photonumeric Allergan Fine Lines Scale.

METHODS

The Allergan Fine Lines Scale was developed to include an assessment guide, verbal descriptors, morphed images, and real subject images for each scale grade. The clinical significance of a 1-point score difference was evaluated in a review of multiple image pairs representing varying differences in severity. Interrater and intrarater reliability was evaluated in a live subject validation study (N = 289) completed during 2 sessions occurring 3 weeks apart.

RESULTS

A score difference of ≥1 point was shown to reflect a clinically significant difference (mean [95% CI] absolute score difference, 1.06 [0.92-1.21] for clinically different image pairs and 0.50 [0.38-0.61] for not clinically different pairs). Intrarater agreement between the 2 live subject validation sessions was almost perfect (weighted kappa = 0.85). Interrater agreement was substantial during the second rating session (0.76, primary end point).

CONCLUSION

The Allergan Fine Lines Scale is a validated and reliable scale for physician rating of severity of superficial fine lines.

Development and Validation of a Photonumeric Scale for Evaluation of Infraorbital Hollows

BACKGROUND

A validated scale is needed for objective and reproducible comparisons of infraorbital hollows (i.e., tear troughs) before and after treatment in practice and clinical studies.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the development and validation of the 5-point photonumeric Allergan Infraorbital Hollows Scale.

METHODS

The scale was developed to include an assessment guide, verbal descriptors, morphed images, and real subject images for each grade. The clinical significance of a 1-point score difference was evaluated in a review of image pairs representing varying differences in severity. Interrater and intrarater reliability was evaluated in a live-subject validation study (N = 297) completed during 2 sessions occurring 3 weeks apart.

RESULTS

A score difference of ≥1 point was shown to reflect a clinically significant difference (mean [95% confidence interval] absolute score difference, 0.90 [0.79-1.02] for clinically different image pairs and 0.33 [0.19-0.46] for not clinically different pairs). Intrarater agreement between the 2 validation sessions was substantial (mean weighted kappa = 0.79). Interrater agreement was substantial during the second rating session (0.70, primary end point).

CONCLUSION

The Allergan Infraorbital Hollows Scale is a validated and reliable scale for physician rating severity of hollowing in the infraorbital area.