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Combined technique may prevent recurrence in primary pterygium cases
Cornea. 2009;28(2):166-169.
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Combining conjunctival rotational autograft with mitomycin C in the treatment of primary pterygium resulted in significantly fewer recurrences than treatment with MMC alone. However, it led to graft injection in more than half of cases at 1-year follow-up.
Researchers conducted a prospective interventional case series that compared study results with historical controls. In the prospective study, 67 eyes of 67 patients underwent pterygium excision. Mean age in the study was 58 years.
In all cases, after surface conjunctiva removal, MMC 0.02% was administered in the scleral bed, and a conjunctival rotational autograft was sutured with a 180° rotation.
In comparison with historical controls, when adjusted for age, the combined treatment had significantly fewer recurrences than MMC alone (P = .005). The combined procedure was also as equally effective as limbal-conjunctival autografts.
Follow-up was at least 1 year. In that time, the primary postoperative complication was graft injection in 41 eyes (61%), clinicians said. Two recurrences (3%) happened, one at 3 months and one at 9 months.
"Although injection remained as a cosmetic concern, it was a safe alternative to limbal-conjunctival autograft in cases where mobilizing autologous conjunctival tissue would not be feasible," the study authors said.