The astigmatic effect of pterygium in a Tertiary Hospital in Kano, Nigeria

Abstract

Aim:This study aims to determine the effect of pterygium excision on the degree of corneal induced astigmatism and visual acuity.Patients and Methods:This was a prospective interventional study conducted between September 2012 and June 2013. Consecutive patients with pterygium who met the inclusion criteria were recruited into the study. They had a basic eye examination, and those with existing comorbidity were excluded. Selected patients had pterygium excision using the bare sclera technique with intraoperative application of Mitomycin C. Detailed pre- and post-operative evaluation and refraction was done.Results:There were 45 eyes of 33 patients aged 28–75 years. The mean age was 56.12 + 12.38 years. Six eyes had Grade I, 29 eyes had Grade II and 10 eyes had Grade III pterygium. The mean value for preoperative astigmatism was 2.12 ± 1.09 diopter cylinder (DC) while that for postoperative astigmatism was 0.72 ± 0.50 DC (P = 0.000). Surgery was associated with statistically significant increase in postoperative visual acuity. (P = 0.000).Conclusion:This study has shown that the degree of pterygium-induced astigmatism reduces significantly following surgical excision. Pterygium excision was associated with improvement in visual acuity.

Visual and refractive Outcome After Pterygium Excision by Different Techniques

“…Similar observations were made by Lawan et al study recorded male predominance that male patients was almost twice that of females This could be denoted that males tend to engage in more outdoor activities compared to females 15 .…”

Prevalence of Pingueculum and Pterygium Among Adults at an Outreach in an Upland Community in Rivers State, Nigeria

“…A reduction in the visual acuity of 6/18 in the better eye was found in one subject (20%), and this was probably due to the astigmatic effect of pterygium. Lawal et al in Northern Nigeria [26] demonstrated an improvement in visual acuity and reduction in induced astigmatism after pterygium excision. This study is limited by the lack of a more detailed history from the subjects including their occupation, educational level, amount of daily outdoor time, awareness and use of protective items and the absence of a slit lamp for accurate grading of the pterygia.…”

Effect of Primary Nasal Pterygium Excision With Conjunctival Autograft on Visual, Refractive, and Corneal Topographic Outcomes

“…Pterygium causes vision impairment and consequently compromises the quality of vision. Pterygium could induce astigmatism which causes a reduction of visual acuity and many symptoms like redness, irritation glare, and diplopia [11]. Surgical excision of the pterygium is the definitive treatment and conjunctival autograft is an efficient and safe procedure for prevention of recurrence [2].…”

“…In this study, there was a male predominance (52 cases, 86.7%) and this agreed with Shelke, et al [12] who found that males were 67.6% of the studied cases. Also, Lawan, et al [11] reported that male patients were about 2-fold higher than females and this could be attributed to that the outdoor activities for males were more than for females. Currently, all refractive parameters improved significantly postoperatively especially cylinder and spherical equivalent.…”