Study on facial diagnosis of coronary heart disease based on objective features

To explore the objective facial appearance characteristics of patients with coronary heart disease (CHD).

From April 7, 2019 to December 1, 2022, 313 patients with CHD were recruited from Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Dongfang Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, and the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, together with 293 healthy controls. Standardized facial images were obtained using the tongue-face diagnostic instrument. The face was divided into six regions: the forehead, left cheek, right cheek, nose, lips, and chin. Nine color parameters were extracted from each region, including red (R), green (G), blue (B), hue (H), saturation (S), value (V), lightness (L), red-green axis (a), and yellow-blue axis (b). Comparisons between groups were performed.

Compared with the healthy group, in the forehead region, values of R, S, V, a, and b were higher in the coronary heart disease group, whereas B was lower (P＜0.05); in the left cheek, nose, and chin regions, R, G, B, V, and L decreased, whereas S, a, and b increased (P＜0.05); in the right cheek region, R, G, B, H, V, and L decreased, while S, a, and b increased (P＜0.05); in the lips region, R, G, B, H, V, L, and a decreased, whereas S and b increased (P＜0.05).

Compared with healthy individuals, patients with CHD present with a darker, more saturated facial complexion with reduced brightness, overall manifesting as "dark red complexion" and "dense but not bright color," suggesting the pathogenesis of qi and blood circulation stagnation and internal blood stasis retention. The objective expression of facial features may have greater application value in syndrome differentiation and auxiliary diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine.