July 2019
Volume 60, Issue 9
Open Access
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   July 2019
Pterygium: Prevalence and Associations in Western Australian Adults
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • David A Mackey
    Lions Eye Institute, University of Western Australia/Lions Eye Institut, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
  • Louis Stevenson
    Lions Eye Institute, University of Western Australia/Lions Eye Institut, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
  • Gareth Lingham
    Lions Eye Institute, University of Western Australia/Lions Eye Institut, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
  • Alex Burton
    Lions Eye Institute, University of Western Australia/Lions Eye Institut, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
  • Holly Brown
    Lions Eye Institute, University of Western Australia/Lions Eye Institut, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
  • Emily Huynh
    Lions Eye Institute, University of Western Australia/Lions Eye Institut, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
  • Irene Tan
    Lions Eye Institute, University of Western Australia/Lions Eye Institut, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
  • Paul Sanfilippo
    Centre for Eye Research Australia, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  • Seyhan Yazar
    Lions Eye Institute, University of Western Australia/Lions Eye Institut, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships   David Mackey, None; Louis Stevenson, None; Gareth Lingham, None; Alex Burton, None; Holly Brown, None; Emily Huynh, None; Irene Tan, None; Paul Sanfilippo, None; Seyhan Yazar, None
  • Footnotes
    Support  National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia)
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science July 2019, Vol.60, 6262. doi:
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      David A Mackey, Louis Stevenson, Gareth Lingham, Alex Burton, Holly Brown, Emily Huynh, Irene Tan, Paul Sanfilippo, Seyhan Yazar; Pterygium: Prevalence and Associations in Western Australian Adults. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2019;60(9):6262.

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      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

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Abstract

Purpose : To describe the prevalence of pterygium and its associations in middle-aged adults in Perth, Western Australia.

Methods : A total of 1049 adults participated in the Gen1 Raine Study cohort, a cross-sectional study of parents of the Raine birth cohort (Gen2). Fifty-five participants were excluded due to incomplete data, leaving 994 in the analysis cohort. Colour photographs were taken of each eye to determine the presence or absence of pterygium, defined as a wing-shaped, fibrovascular, conjunctival growth extending across the limbus to involve the cornea. Participants also underwent conjunctival ultraviolet autofluorescence photography, which has been validated as a biomarker of sun exposure, non-cycloplegic autorefraction and completed a questionnaire on past ocular history and sun exposure. Associations with pterygium were determined using ordinal logistic regression analysis.

Results : The median age of the cohort was 56.7 years (SD=5.7 years) and 571 (57.4%) were female. The lifetime prevalence of pterygium was 8.4% (n=83). Twenty-four (2.4%) participants had previously undergone pterygium surgery and 8 (0.8%) had recurrent pterygia. Pterygium was more common in males (n=48, 11.3%) than females (n=35, 6.1%). The median total area of conjunctival autofluorescence with ultraviolet photography in those with pterygia was significantly greater than those without (36.98mm2 vs 20.68mm2, p-value = <0.001). Pterygium prevalence was not found to be significantly associated with age (p-value=0.75) or time spent outdoors (p-value=0.46)

Conclusions : We found the prevalence of pterygium in urban Western Australia to be comparable to that quoted in other Australian studies. Pterygium was strongly associated with increased conjunctival ultraviolet autofluorescence extent, consistent with its well-established association with ultraviolet radiation. However, there was no effect of age or time spent outdoors on pterygium prevalence. This may reflect the narrow age range of the cohort and the difficulty assessing historical sun exposure with questionnaires

This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.

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