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

Table 1

Patient demographics.

Total number of patients
Male	11
Female	8
Age of patients (years)
Range	23-78
Subgroups
Pinguecula	5
Primary	15
Recurrent	8
PHC	10
HC	37
Side of involvement
Left	6
Right	9
Bilateral	4
Classification
I+II	3
III	18
IV	2
Vascularization index^,† (%)
All patients ()
Grades I+II ()
Grade III ()
Grade IV ()
Affected corneal area (%)
All patients ()
Grades I+II ()
Grade III ()
Grade IV ()
IL-6 tear film levels^,‡ (pg/mL)
Pinguecula ()
Primary ()
Recurrent ()
PHC ()
HC ()
IL-8 tear film levels^,‡ (pg/mL)
Pinguecula ()
Primary ()
Recurrent ()
PHC ()
HC ()
VEGF tear film levels^,‡ (pg/mL)
Pinguecula ()
Primary ()
Recurrent ()
PHC ()
HC ()

The of each group is given for the following parameters: age, vascularization index, affected corneal area, and IL-6, IL-8, and VEGF tear film levels. . ^†The vascularization index could not be calculated for each patient due to the influence of the iris colour and undesirable shadows on the ocular surface photographs. ^‡Two patients are excluded from the cytokine analysis. One patient suffered from multiple myeloma, involving IL-6 and IL-8 in its pathogenesis. As serum derivatives can passively leak into the tear film, the corresponding concentrations are considered unreliable. The other patient has been excluded due to the presence of two pterygia in one eye, of which the second pterygium has not been surgically removed. PHC: patient’s healthy eye; HC: healthy control.