Fuad Ahmad Khan Niazi, Muhammad Afzal Khan Niazi.
Safety and efficacy of sliding conjunctival auto graft including limbal stem cells compared to simple sliding conjunctival auto graft in treating recurrent Pterygium.
J Rawal Med Coll Jan ;7(2):59-62.

Background: A prospective observational comparison to monitor the recurrence rates among incident eyes of pterygium in those undergoing sliding conjunctival auto graft including limbal stem cells as compared to those undergoing simple sliding conjunctival auto graft. Method: The study was conducted from February 2002 to September 2003 at the Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Sliding conjunctival auto grafts from the superior and inferior limbus including the limbal stem cells on 52 eyes with recurrent pterygium of 39 subjects (Group A) in comparison to simple sliding conjunctival auto grafts on 49 eyes with recurrent pterygium of 38 subjects (Group B), were performed during this time period. Recovery was monitored on the basis of corneal transparency with stable epithelial healing and no abnormal proliferation of pterygium-like tissue. Failure to achieve the above mentioned was considered as a surgical failure as observed over a followup period of at least one year. Results: Both the study groups were not statistically different in terms of distribution by sex and age group. Two out of 46 eyes in group A developed any significant recurrence over a one year follow-up while five out of 40 eyes developed any recurrence in group B. All eyes that developed recurrence in both the study groups were belonging to subjects having ages of less than 40 years. The majority of the subjects in both groups reported a mild localized congestion, which subsided in 2-4 weeks after respective surgical procedures, with the use of topical steroids as per requirement based on clinical assessment and irrespective of the consideration for the type of surgical procedure the patient had undergone. Among the subjects in group A, one subject developed a surgical granuloma as a complication and was subsequently excluded from the final comparison.

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