Abstract
Background: To evaluate changes in thickness of the conjunctival graft after pterygium surgery by anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT). Materials and Methods: Eleven eyes of 11 patients with primary nasal pterygium underwent excision followed by free conjunctival autograft. Imaging with AS-OCT was performed at 1 week, 1 month and 3 months after surgery to measure thickness of the conjunctival graft at 1, 2 and 3mm posterior to the scleral spur. As the control, thickness of the normal bulbar conjunctival epithelium in the temporal area was also measured at the same locations. Results: Average thickness of the graft decreased from 458±171 m at 1 week after surgery to 306±64 m at 1 month (p<0.0001). Although the graft thickness decreased to 291±124 m at 3 months postoperatively, the difference between 1-month and 3-month values was not statistically significant (p=0.94). Average thickness of the normal conjunctival epithelium was 58±13 m, 60±19 m and 61±12 m at 1 week, 1 month and 3 months after surgery, respectively, with no statistically significant difference. Graft thickness was significantly greater than thickness of the normal conjunctival epithelium at various time points (p<0.05). Conclusion: Evaluation by AS-OCT showed that there was significant thickening of the conjunctival graft at 1 week after pterygium surgery which continued to decrease up to 3 months. Quantitative data by AS-OCT allows accurate evaluation of the conjunctival changes over time.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 782-786 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Current Eye Research |
Volume | 36 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 1 2011 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Anterior segment optical coherence tomography
- Conjunctival graft
- Conjunctival thickness
- Pterygium
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ophthalmology
- Sensory Systems
- Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience