The Role of Mast cells in the Pathogenesis of Primary and Recurrent Pterygium

Pur po se: In this study, we aimed to investigate the roles of mast cells in pterygium pathogenesis and to compare the number of mast cells in primary and recurrent pterygium. Ma te ri al and Met hod: In this study, we evaluated 49 eyes of 49 outpatients with pterygium and the 2 eyes of 1 outpatient with pterygium. Twenty-eight of pterygium tissues were primary type and twenty-three of them were recurrent type. Normal conjunctival tissues in the upper temporal quadrant of same eyes were included in the control group. The numbers of mast cells in the tissues of primary pterygium group, recurrent pterygium group and control group were compared. Re sults: The mean mast cell number in the pterygium tissues (8.9±6.5) was statistically significantly higher than the mean mast cell number in the control tissues (6.0±4.7) (p=0.000). Even though the mean mast cell number in the recurrent pterygium tissues (9.3±7.4) was higher than that in the primary pterygium tissues (8.5±5.3), the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.68). Dis cus si on: These results suggest that mast cells play an important role in pterygium pathogenesis; however, more studies are necessary to demonstrate the difference between primary pterygium and recurrent pterygium. (Turk J Ophthalmol 2012; 42: 183-5)