This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
The challenge of the pterygium
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
 Pterygium growth in the right eye of a 35-year-old male patient who works as a professional gardener. It has been slowly growing over the course of the last decade. |
Essentially all ophthalmologists agree that phacoemulsification is usually the best form of cataract surgery for patients in the U.S. But what about the technique of pterygium surgery? There are so many ways to remove a pterygium, with no single technique being widely accepted as the best.
While small pterygia are considered more of a cosmetic issue than a functional problem, as the pterygia grow onto the cornea they begin to affect vision. Initially this may be due to induced corneal irregularities, but it may progress to chronic inflammation, ocular surface disruption and frank blockage of the visual axis.
There are many described techniques and adjunctive therapies: simple excisions, conjunctival autografts, amniotic membrane grafts, sutured vs. glued grafts, mitomycin C application, even radiation.
Because the prevalence of pterygium in other countries is more than in the U.S., international ophthalmologists may have more experience and better techniques to treat these patients. Because this blog has as many international readers as U.S. readers, I'd like to pose the question:
For the patient shown in this picture, what technique of pterygium surgery would you recommend?
See Dr. Devgan share more expert insight live at OSN New York 2010, to be held November 19-21, 2010 at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers. Learn more at OSNNY.com.