The role of mast cell in pterygium recurrence

Purpose: To investigate the role in pterygium recurrence of mast cell, which is known to play a role in inflammatory and immunological events, we aimed to determine the mast cell number in primary and recurrent pterygium tissue samples and to determine its relationship with angiogenesis.Materials and Methods: The study included 61 patients with pterygium who underwent primary pterygium excision with a bare sclera technique, but recurrent after a while. Primary and recurrent pterygium tissue samples of the same patient were examined histopathologically. The mean mast cell count was calculated by counting from 3 different areas under light microscope at 400 x magnification. In addition, the number of vessels was scored at 200x magnification.Results: 34 of the patients were male and 27 were female. The mean age was 57.02 ± 7.96. The mean mast cell count was 8.46±2.52 in the primary pterygium tissue and 14.07±3.05 in the recurrent pterygium tissue. The mean vascular count was 12.90 ± 3.17 in primary pterygium tissue and 16.21 ± 2.24 in recurrent pterygium. Statistical analysis revealed a significant increase in the number of mast cells and vascular number in the recurrent pterygium. Mast cell number and vascularity were correlated in primary pterygium and recurrent pterygium tissue samples.Conclusion: Increased mast cell in pterygium tissue may play an important role in the recurrence of pterygium. Determining mast cell count in preventing pterygium recurrence may be important.