Posters

How anterior segment optical coherence tomography helps us to study pterygium?

Poster Details

First Author: M.Romero Sanz SPAIN

Co Author(s):    M. Vicente Altabás   L. Arias Campo   M. Puzo Bayod   M. Bakkali el Bakkali   J. Sánchez Monroy   M. Idoipe Corta     

Abstract Details

Purpose:

Pterygium is a benign fibrovascular hyperplasia with a triangular morphology that develops in the bulbar conjunctiva and can invade the cornea. Worldwide, a classification is known given through the diagnostic examination performed by means of the slit lamp, through the subjective observation of the examiner. Our objective in this study is to study this pathology with OCT-SA (anterior segment optical coherence tomography), describe the lesion, analyze the different changes in thickness after surgical treatment with autograft or with amniotic membrane placement, as well as possible post-surgical complications. Finally analyze the correlation between the slit lamp and OCT measurements.

Setting:

Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet. Zaragoza. España

Methods:

Taking advantage of technological advances, 18 patients diagnosed with pterygium were examined with the help of anterior segment optical coherence tomography (OCT-SA). The patients were evaluated before surgery, one day, one week and one month after the intervention in order to study the morphological patterns of this pathology and the possible correlation between conventional slit lamp measurements and those performed with OCT-SA.

Results:

A series of 18 cases with pterygium operated for the first time is presented. On OCT-SA images, the pterygium appears as a hyperreflective lesion between the corneal epithelium and Bowman's membrane, giving it a wavy and irregular appearance. In the post-surgical analysis of the images, there was a thickening of the conjunctival graft 1 week after pterygium surgery, which largely decreased in the first month and continued to decrease for up to 3 months. The pterygium tissue below the corneal epithelium was also found to extend beyond the macroscopically visible mass. Some cases showed perilesional corneal thinning, despite this, a moderate/strong correlation was observed between horizontal slit lamp measurements and OCT-SA.

Conclusions:

OCT-SA allows us to obtain high-resolution images of the pterygium and shows with high precision the relationship between corneal tissues and the lesion. The use of this modality of cross-sectional images can help to decrease the currently existing recurrence rates after pterygium excision through the use of OCT-SA in the evaluation of these lesions. Future pterygium classification scales could be based on OCT-SA.

Financial Disclosure:

None