Pterygium Pathology: A Prospective Case-Control Study on Tear Film Cytokine Levels

Figure 3

Concentrations of IL-6 (a, d, g, j), IL-8 (b, e, h, k), and VEGF (c, f, i, l) measured in the tear film of unilateral patients at four different time points, i.e., preoperative (pre-OP), two weeks postoperation (2W-PO), three months postoperation (3M-PO), and one year postoperation (1Y-PO). The dotted line in all the graphs represents the upper limit of IL-6, IL-8, and VEGF concentrations in the tear film of healthy controls (HC). Statistical significance was tested using a linear mixed effect model with 2 by 2 post hoc comparisons of the different time points: . One patient-specific course is not depicted due to missing values. Abbreviations: Pt: pterygium affected; PHC: patient healthy control; PPt: primary pterygium; RPt: recurrent pterygium.

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