[Characteristics of patients with pterygium in the Botucatu region].

PURPOSE To determine the characteristics of patients with conjunctival pterygia in the Botucatu region (São Paulo State). METHODS A retrospective study was conducted to evaluate the gender, occupation, complaints and lesion characteristics (primary or recurrent lesion, size, involutive or pulpous) of patients with pterygium. The data were submitted to statistical analysis. RESULTS Approximately half of the patients were female and over 40 years old. The main complaint was the esthetic effect of the lesion. The majority of the lesions were primary (77.08%), grade 2 (69.6%) and pulpous (86.7%). Pterygium grade 4 was present in the 1.4% of the patients. CONCLUSION Most patients were female, over 40 years old. Primary, grade 2 and pulpous lesion was the most frequently observed. Blindness caused by pterygium is still present in Brazil.