A STUDY TO EVALUATE THE TEAR FILM CHANGES IN PATIENTS WITH PTERYGIUM.

Introduction: Pterygium is a degenerative condition of the subconjunctival tissues which proliferate as vascularized granulation tissue to invade the cornea, destroying the supercial layers of the stroma and bowmans membrane, the whole being covered by conjunctival epithelium.The tear lm consists of three layers, the most supercial layer of tear lm is lipid layer produced by meibomian glands. The middle layer is the aqueous layer produced by the main lacrimal gland as well as accessory lacrimal glands of Krause and Wolfring. Aqueous layer constitutes over 90% of the tear lm. The layer closest to the cornea is the mucin layer produced by conjunctival goblet cells. Tear function abnormalities have been proposed as an etiologic factor for pterygium due to observation that a pterygium is exacerbated by dryness and dellen formation. Whether tear dysfunction is a precursor to pterygium growth or pterygium causes tear dysfunction is still not clear. The present study was taken up to study the tear lm changes in patients presenting with pterygium. Materials and methods: The present prospective study was conducted at the Department of Ophthalmology, Chalmeda Anand Rao Institute of Medical Sciences from Jan 2021- July 2022. 75 patients satisfying inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in the study. The eye with pterygium was considered as case and the normal eye of the same patient was considered as controls. The data was recorded for 150 eyes. All patients underwent visual acuity assessment, a detailed slit-lamp examination and ophthalmoscopy to rule out adnexal, anterior segment and posterior segment diseases. Patients were evaluated for tear lm changes using Schirmer's test(with anesthesia),Tear lm breakup time and Tear lm meniscus height. The mean age of the study population was 34.7±4.98 years, with 56% of ma Results: les and 44% of females. Pterygium was present in right eye in 73.33% (n=55) cases and 26.66% (n=20) had it in the left eye. All were on the nasal conjunctiva. Schirmer's test was signicantly lower in eyes with pterygium with P value of <0.001. Tear Film Break Up time and Tear Film meniscus height was signicantly lesser in the eyes with pterygium with P=<0.001. From the present study, we ca Conclusion: n suggest that unstable tear lm is found to a greater extent in eyes with pterygium than in eyes without pterygium. Pterygium is one of the most common ocular surface disorders which results in instability of tear lm indices and thus lead to dysfunctional tear lm and development of dry eye.