Corneal Wavefront Aberrations After Primary and Recurrent Pterygium Surgery.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Corneal Surgery
• Wavefront Aberrometry

Background:

• Pterygium, a common eye condition, can affect corneal shape and visual quality.
• Surgical outcomes for primary and recurrent pterygium may differ in their impact on corneal optics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of primary and recurrent pterygium excision with conjunctival autograft transplantation on corneal wavefront aberrations.
• To compare the changes in total wavefront error (WFE), higher-order aberrations (HOAs), coma, trefoil, and spherical aberrations post-surgery.

Main Methods:

• Prospective interventional study involving 47 eyes with primary pterygium and 41 eyes with recurrent pterygium.
• Corneal wavefront aberrations were measured using Sirius corneal topography and aberrometry before and at 3 and 12 months after pterygium excision.
• Key outcome measures included root mean square values for WFE, HOAs, coma, trefoil, and spherical aberrations.

Main Results:

• Both primary and recurrent pterygium surgery significantly reduced total WFE, HOAs, trefoil, and coma (P<0.05).
• Spherical aberration showed no significant change post-surgery in either group (P>0.05).
• Postoperative corneal aberrations (WFE, HOA, trefoil, coma) were significantly higher in the recurrent pterygium group compared to the primary group at 3 and 12 months (P<0.05).

Conclusions:

• Pterygium surgery is effective in reducing corneal wavefront aberrations, improving visual quality.
• Recurrent pterygium surgery leads to a greater degree of residual corneal aberrations compared to primary pterygium surgery.