Effects of pterygium on ocular aberrations.

PURPOSE: To compare high-order aberration between the eyes with pterygium and normal fellow eyes.

SETTING

Ophthalmic Research Center and Department of Ophthalmology Labbafinejad Medical Center Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences Tehran, Iran.

METHOD: This comparative cross-sectional study comprised 31 patients with unilateral pterygium. NIDEK OPD-Scan wavefront aberrometry was performed in all patients in both eyes. Then, aberometric parameters were compared between the eyes.

RESULTS

Sixty-two eyes of 31 patients (23 men and 8 women) with a mean age of 42.5 ± 5.9 years were included in the study. Root mean square (RMS) of total higher-order aberration increased statistically significantly in the involved eyes compared with normal fellow eyes (1.85 ± 2.22 and 0.36 ± 0.44 μm; P = 0.001). All RMS of Zernike orders and all RMS of different aberrations were higher in the involved eyes group and were statistically significant except for spherical aberration. The most significant differences belonged to RMS of total trefoil (1.37 vs. 0.25 μm) and RMS of total coma (0.37 vs. 0.14 μm) (P = 0.0001). With decreasing the uninvolved optical zone (increasing the size of pterygium), RMS of all aberrations increased and the differences were statistically significant except for spherical aberration.

CONCLUSION

Pterygium and its size have significant influence on high-order aberrations of the eye especially on measured total coma and total trefoil in compared with normal fellow eye.