PURPOSE The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence and risk factors for pterygium in a population aged 40-74 years in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. METHODS Of 4185 citizens of the towns of Minamiaizu-machi and Tadami-machi, 2312 (55.2%) gave consent to an ocular examination during a health examination. Pterygium was diagnosed when a radially oriented fibrovascular lesion growing over...

PURPOSE Pterygium is an ocular surface disease of unknown etiology associated with epithelial and fibrovascular outgrowth from the conjunctiva onto the cornea. S100 proteins are calcium-activated signaling proteins that interact with other proteins to modulate biological functions such as cell migration, proliferation, and differentiation. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence o...

The paper is a clinical retrospective analysis of free conjunctival autograft in treatment of pterygia. In period from 1998 until 2006, 47 patients with pterygia were operated using free conjunctival autograft. There were 19 female and 38 male, average age 61 years. In the majority of patients (39/47) it was a primary pterygia. Eight patients were on topical antiglaucoma therapy. Free autograft...

AIM The study was designed to evaluate the long term results of intraoperative mitomycin C in patients with one recurrence of pterygium. METHODS In 45 white patients with one recurrence of pterygium the 'bare sclera technique' was performed and a sterile sponge soaked in a 0.2 mg/ml (0.02%) mitomycin C solution was placed intraoperatively on the sclera for 3 minutes. The control group underwe...

AIMS To evaluate the incidence of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and microsatellite instability (MI) in pterygia and their possible correlation with clinical variables. METHODS 50 pterygia, blood, and conjunctival specimens were obtained. A personal and family history was recorded for each patient. Amplification of 15 microsatellite markers at regions 17p, 17q, 13q, 9p, and 9q was performed usi...

AIMS To determine the presence and origin of myofibroblasts in pterygia. METHODS 86 specimens including head, body, and fibrovascular tissue from 52 primary and 34 recurrent pterygia and five exenterated eyes without pterygia were searched for the origin of myofibroblasts. All tissues were subjected to haematoxylin and eosin staining, immunohistochemistry using antibodies against alpha smooth...

Aims—To compare the rate of recurrence and complication after surgery for primary pterygium performed by one surgeon using either intraoperative mitomycin C or â irradiation. Methods—A retrospective study was performed of 164 eyes in 164 patients who had undergone primary pterygium surgery. After the pterygium was excised, the bare sclera was covered by sliding adjacent superior conjunctiva. 10...