We present the case of a four-year-old girl with bilateral keratoconus secondary to chronic persistent eye rubbing. She was referred to our clinic with intractable ocular itching and low vision. According to her family, she was generally rubbing her eyes. On slit-lamp biomicroscopic examination, bilateral papillary reactions were seen on the upper tarsal conjunctiva. Clinical examination and corneal topography were compatible with keratoconus. The patient's visual acuity was not evaluated because of cooperation difficulties. Systemic examination was normal. In fact, trauma may be the common underlying factor in eye rubbing and may cause development of keratoconus, even in the early years. To the best of our knowledge, this is the youngest patient with bilateral keratoconus secondary to chronic persistent eye rubbing in the literature. Keratoconus should be kept in mind in patients with severe ocular itching, even in small children.
Background The main complication of primary pterygium surgery is the recurrence of the pterygium. In the present study, we aimed to compare a classical technique and facilitated tenon-free conjunctival autograft preparation and a limited tenon removal technique in pterygium surgery in terms of recurrence rate, complications, and operation duration.
Material and Methods This is a retrospective, comparative, observational study. Group 1 comprised 120 eyes of 115 patients who underwent pterygium excision with a new facilitated tenon-free conjunctival-limbal autograft preparation and limited tenon removal technique between May 2017 and October 2019. Group 2 comprised 117 eyes of 113 patients who underwent pterygium excision with a conventional conjunctival-limbal autograft technique between January 2016 and May 2017.
Results The mean follow-up time after surgery was 18.2 ± 5.8 months in group 1 and 19.1 ± 6.3 months in group 2 (p = 0.25). The mean operation duration was 5.54 ± 1.22 (4 – 7) minutes in group 1 and 8.23 ± 1.26 (8 – 10) minutes in group 2 (p = 0.02). Flap edema was present in 33 eyes (28.2%) in group 2 and in 11 eyes (9.16%) in group 1. Flap edema was significantly higher in group 2 (p < 0.001). At the end of the 1-year follow-up of the patients, we observed recurrence in only one (0.83%) eye in group 1 and 14 (11.96%) eyes in group 2. The recurrence rate of group 1 was significantly less than that of group 2 (p < 0.001).
Conclusions The simplified technique of tenon-free conjunctival autograft preparation and limited tenon removal yielded better clinical outcomes without serious complications. Additionally, this technique shortened the surgical time and reduced surgeon-dependent factors.
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