AIMS To compare the rate of recurrence and complication after surgery for primary pterygium performed by one surgeon using either intraoperative mitomycin C or beta 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 conjunctiv...

BACKGROUND To study the long-term effects of low-dosage strontium-90 (Sr90) irradiation on the recurrence of pterygium. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS One hundred twenty eyes from 104 patients with primary or recurrent pterygia were treated with surgery followed by Sr90 irradiation. In brief, starting on the sixth day after surgery, patients were treated with irradiation three times every oth...

PURPOSE To evaluate mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathways in pterygium and pterygium-free conjunctivas. METHODS Primary pterygia (n = 21), ipsilateral superior-temporal bulbar conjunctivas (n = 8), and healthy conjunctival (n = 5) biopsy specimens were analyzed. Total and phosphorylated (phospho) levels of extracellular-regulated 1/2 (ERK1/...

Purpose: To evaluate the differences between superior and inferior conjunctival autografts with fibrin glue in management of primary pterygium as regard surgical difficulties, duration, recurrence, complications and stem cell density. Patients and methods: In a prospective one stage randomized controlled study, 36 patients with primary pterygium were included in the study and assigned into 2 gr...

OBJECTIVE To assess the potential role of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in the pathogenesis of pterygia by comparing the immunolocalization patterns of MMPs in altered limbal basal stem cells, activated fibroblasts, and areas of elastotic degeneration adjacent to the pterygia. METHODS Nine primary and 1 recurrent pterygia along with normal superior limbal-conjunctival tissue and cornea wer...

BACKGROUND Recent studies have demonstrated that pterygium has a close relationship with dry eye disease. This study is to determine abnormalities in meibomian gland and tear function in patients with pterygium and to assess the relationship between the variables. MATERIALS AND METHODS Forty eyes from forty patients with primary nasal pterygium and forty eyes from forty volunteers without ocu...

PURPOSE Pterygium is a wing shaped fibrovascular growth on the ocular surface, characterized by fibrosis, angiogenesis, extracellular matrix remodeling, and inflammatory infiltrates. Epidemiologic studies have linked pterygium formation to various chronic inflammatory conditions, such as ultraviolet radiation, sawdust exposure, and dry eye disease. The purpose of this study is to identify prote...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Pterygia are a common disorder of the ocular surface. The disease represents a chronic fibrovascular and degenerative process thought to originate at the conjunctival-corneal junction, where altered limbal stem cells are proposed to be the cell of origin. Extensive epidemiological evidence exists to implicate ultraviolet B irradiation in the pathogenesis of pterygia. To date no ...

PURPOSE To investigate the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in a group of 93 Ecuadorian primary pterygia and to evaluate a possible association between COX-2 and survivin. METHODS Primary pterygium samples were treated for the immunohistochemical evaluation of COX-2 and survivin. Mouse monoclonal antibody to COX-2 and rabbit polyclonal antibody to survivin were used. Statistical analysi...