الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Primary pterygium may lead to deep corneal changes resulting in significant endothelial cell loss. Reduction in ECD is considered a warning sign before cataract surgery and corneal surgeries. The present study aimed to evaluate corneal endothelial cell density in cases with unilateral primary pterygium using a non-contact specular microscopy. It was a cross sectional observational comparative study that included thirty patients with unilateral primary pterygium who attended to outpatient clinic at Mansoura Ophthalmic Center after they had met inclusion and exclusion criteria. Non-contact Tomey EM 3000 specular microscopy was used to assess and compare corneal endothelial cell density in eyes with unilateral primary pterygium and other eye that served as a control, also CV and CCT were evaluated. Corneal topography Tomey TMS-5 also used to assess astigmatism degree in 3mm central zone, average corneal power and central corneal thickness. There was statistically significant reduction in ECD in eyes with primary pterygium compared to control eyes, mean ECD was 2423 ± 248.97 (cells/mm2) in pterygium eyes and 2539 ± 256.39 (cells/mm2) in control eyes.CV and CCT showed insignificant increase in pterygium eyes compared to control eyes, mean values was 0.38 ± 0.047 vs 0.37 ± 0.038 and 509.87 ± 30.036 (µm) vs 505.70 ± 26.135 (µm) respectively. Astigmatism degree in central 3 mm zone in pterygium eyes showed statistically significant increase compared with control eyes, mean astigmatism degree was 1.75 ±1.625 in eyes with pterygium and 0.52 ±0.499 in control eyes. There was insignificant reduction in mean corneal power (D) which was 43.47 ±1.580 in pterygium eyes compared to control eyes which was 44.01 ±1.835.Conclusions - Primary pterygium affect different corneal layers including corneal endothelium and cause statistically significant reduction in corneal endothelial cell density compared to contralateral healthy eyes, with significant increase in astigmatism degree and insignificant increase in CV and CCT. Reduction in ECD may have impact on corneal transparency so, it is important to assess corneal endothelial state to maintain corneal clarity. Potential limitations in our study first we couldn’t document long term effect of pterygium on corneal endothelium. Second, we couldn’t know frequency of exposure of patients to ultraviolet radiation.