J Korean Ophthalmol Soc.  1997 Jul;38(7):1139-1143.

The Effect of Pterygium on Corneal Astigmatism and Visual Acuity

• Ji NC
• Hwang SY
• Lee CS

Abstract

To evaluate the effect of pterygium on corneal astigmatism and visual acuity, we checked the corneal curvature and visual acuity before and after the operation for pterygium in 126 eye. In the cases of Grade I, the mean change of the horizontal corneal curvature was +0.32D and the mean change of the vertical corneal curvature was +0.07D (P<0.05). In the cases of Grade II, the mean change of the horizontal corneal curvature was +0.54D(P<0.01) and the mean change of the vertical corneal curvature was +0.09D(P<0.05). All of the horizontal and vertical corneal curvature increased after removal of the pterygium, especially the horizontal curvature increased more than the vertical curvature. As the pterygium invades the cornea more extensively, the corneal curvature increased more markedly. After the operation for pterygium the visual acuity was improved 1 to 2 lines at the Han`s visual acuity table in some cases, but there was no statistical significance (P>0.5).

Keyword

Corneal astigmatism; Pterygium; Visual acuity

MeSH Terms

Astigmatism*
Cornea
Pterygium*
Visual Acuity*