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Characteristics and Recurrence of Pterygium: A Single Center Study with a Long Follow-up

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First Author: B.AlQahtani SAUDI ARABIA

Co Author(s):    W. Alsarhani   S. Alshahrani   M. Showail              

Abstract Details

Purpose:

To describe the clinical features of patients with pterygium and analyze the recurrence rate of conjunctival autografting alone, conjunctival autografting combined with intraoperative mitomycin C, and amniotic membrane grafting.

Setting:

King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Methods:

A retrospective study of primary pterygium was conducted between January 2017 and February 2020. The number of patients who presented with pterygium was 292, while the number of operated cases was 94 (32.19%). The main outcome measured was recurrence over an average follow-up period of 29.3 ± 11.9 months.

Results:

In the multivariate regression analysis, female gender was the only independent risk factor for a pterygium to encroach on the cornea. The overall rate of recurrence for the three procedures was 17% over an average time of 14.19 ± 11.9 months, with 37% of the recurrences occurring after the first year. The only factor associated with a significant risk of recurrence was dry eye disease. The recurrence rates following conjunctival autografting with and without mitomycin C were 15.6% and 15.8%, respectively. The recurrence rate following the amniotic membrane graft was almost double (27%) that following the conjunctival autograft (15.6%).

Conclusions:

The only factor associated with the recurrence of pterygium was dry eye disease. More than one-third of recurrences developed after the first year, which stresses the importance of a long follow-up.

Financial Disclosure:

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