Impact of pterygium on the ocular surface and meibomian glands

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 14; no. 9; p. e0213956
• Main Authors: Wanzeler, Ana Claudia Viana, Barbosa, Italo Antunes França, Duarte, Bruna, Barbosa, Eduardo Buzolin, Borges, Daniel Almeida, Alves, Monica
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 12.09.2019; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Analysis; Anterior Eye Segment - pathology; Astigmatism; Biology and Life Sciences; Case-Control Studies; Contact lenses; Cornea; Corneal Topography; Correlation analysis; Extracellular matrix; Eye diseases; Eyelid; Female; Glands; Humans; Hyperemia; Internet; Localization; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Meibomian Glands - pathology; Meniscus; Middle Aged; Parameters; Prevalence studies (Epidemiology); Pterygium - diagnosis; Quality of life; Severity of Illness Index; Signs and symptoms; Social Sciences; Surface matching; Brazil; Thailand
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213956

To analyze how ocular surface parameters correlate to presence of pterygium and investigate the possible impact of pterygia on tear film findings and meibomian glands findings. We investigated objective parameters of the ocular surface such as conjunctival hyperemia, tear film stability and volume, meibomian gland dysfunction, dry eye disease, corneal topography comparing healthy individuals and correlating with the pterygium clinical presentation. A total of 83 patients were included. Corneal astigmatism induction was 2.65 ± 2.52 D (0.4-11.8). The impact of pterygium on the ocular surface parameters compared to matched controls was seen in: conjunctival hyperemia (control 1.55±0.39/pterygium 2.14±0.69; p = 0.0001), tear meniscus height (control 0.24±0.05 mm/pterygium 0.36±0.14mm; p 0.0002), meiboscore lower eyelid (control 0.29±0.64/pterygium 1.38±0.95; p 0.0001) and meiboscore upper eyelid (control 0.53±0.62/pterygium 0.98±0.75; p = 0.0083). We found a high number of pterygium patients (88%) presented meibomian gland alterations. Interestingly, meibomian gland loss was coincident to the localization of the pterygium in 54% of the upper and 77% lower lids. Pterygium greatly impacts on ocular surface by inducing direct alterations in the pattern of meibomian glands besides corneal irregularities, conjunctival hyperemia and lacrimal film alterations, inducing significant symptoms and potential signs of dysfunction.