Does Cigarette Smoking Alter the Risk of Pterygium? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

The results of this meta-analysis show that cigarette smoking was associated with a reduced risk of pterygium, especially in current smokers. This effect may be independent of UV exposure and sex. Investigations are needed to unveil its molecular basis serving therapeutic purposes.

Five-Year Incidence and Predictors for Pterygium in a Rural Community in China

“…18 However, this analysis was mainly based on cross-sectional or case-control studies (of the 24 studies, 22 were cross-sectional or case-control studies). Our study together with the other 2 longitudinal cohort studies did not support this conclusion, indicating that the association in the meta-analysis may be spurious.…”

“…14 For environmental factors, exposure to ultraviolet radiation is the most consistent risk factor, which may result in cellular changes in the medial limbus of the cornea. [2][3][4]6,[15][16][17] Smoking has been linked with a reduced risk of pterygium, 18 but this observation could not be replicated in longitudinal analysis. 12 Some sporadic studies also reported that blood pressure, 3 cholesterol level, 3 or fasting blood glucose concentration 12 were associated with the risk of pterygium, but these associations have not been confirmed.…”

Vitamin D and its pathway genes in myopia: systematic review and meta-analysis

“…We included only studies with five or more stars. The modified Estabrooks’ tool for cross-sectional studies contains 14 items in two groups 39. Group I includes the probabilistic sample used, sample size appropriate for power, response rate exceeding 50%, validity, appropriate tests used and CI reported.…”

“…Group II includes representative sample, sample drawn from multiple sites, cluster/stratified design, multiple adjusted, detective variable (primary outcome) directly measured/administrative, reliability, p values reported and missing data managed appropriately. A study was considered to be of high risk of bias when one item in Group I was marked as ‘No’ or two items marked as ‘N/A’, or any two items from Group II were marked as ‘No’ or three items marked as ‘N/A’ 39. Articles with high risk of bias were excluded from the analysis.…”

Demographics of Patients with Double-headed Pterygium and Surgical Outcomes

“…Agents utilized to inhibit recurrence such as mitomycin C, 5-fluorouracil or triethylene thiophosphoramide were not used in any of the cases. 15,16,17 The conjunctival grafts were positioned leaving no open scleral tissue starting from the nasal and temporal limbus, with the epithelial side up and the limbal area aligned with the limbus. Both grafts were sutured to the surrounding conjunctiva with a shallow pass through the episclera using 8/0 vicryl (Figure 2).…”