Abstract
Purpose :
To determine changes in tear film characteristics and dry eye symptoms in patients who underwent primary pterygium excision with conjunctival autograft.
Methods :
Patients with primary pterygium who were candidates for surgical excision and conjunctival autograft were included in the study. An Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) test and the following tear film characteristics were evaluated: Non-Invasive Break-Up Time (NIBUT, seconds), Lipid layer Interferometry (nm), Tear Meniscus Height (mm), Meibomian gland dropout (%) (LacryDiag, Quantel Medical, Cournon-d'Auvergne, France). Both measurements were performed preoperatively and at one week, one month, and three months post-operatively.
Results :
33 patients and 35 eyes were included in the study, 21 (60 %) corresponded to the left eye, 14 (40 %) to the right eye, 25 (76 %) patients were female and 8 (24 %) were male, with an age average of 52 ± 11 years. Tear film and dry eye symptom findings before surgery were as follows: OSDI test 39.59 ± 25.94, NIBUT 8.79 ± 1.89, Interferometry 61.08 ± 33.80, Tear Meniscus Height 32.69 ± 9.55, Superior Meibomian Gland dropout 25.95 ± 8.48, and Inferior Meibomian Gland dropout 28.39 ± 11.37. At one-month postoperative results: OSDI test 16.72 ± 10.62 (p = 0.0001), NIBUT 8.86 ± 1.28 (p = 0.86), Interferometry 58.47 ± 21.55 (p = 0.68), Tear Meniscus Height 29.39 ± 6.40 (p = 0.04), Superior Meibomian Gland dropout 24.39 ± 8.48 (p = 0.57), and Inferior Meibomian Gland dropout 32.78 ± 13.67 (p =0.11).
Conclusions :
Primary pterygium excision with conjunctival autograft seems to help improve dry eye-related symptoms, which was subjectively proven with a statistically significant change in OSDI scores at one-month postoperative. However, changes in objective evaluations of tear film characteristics through an ocular surface analyzer were not as evident, and only a significant change in tear meniscus height was found. Further analysis is needed to determine whether symptoms might be related to an inflammatory environment generated by the pterygium and not directly influence on the tear film characteristics.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.