PURPOSE: To evaluate the eyeblink rate in patients with pterygium before and after the lesion exeresis. METHODS: Forty-one patients with pterygium were evaluated before and 60 days after the lesion exeresis. They were digitally videotaped during one minute in a standard setting using a Sony Digital 8 DCR - TRV110 and the images were transferred to a personal computer (McIntosh 400) and processed with the iMovie software. The patients stayed in primary gaze position, under artificial ilumination. Total blink, complete and incomplete blink and the opening and closure time were measured using frames scale. The data were submitted to statistical analysis. RESULTS: Before surgery, 36.36% of the patients with pterygium complained of foreign body and after that, 61.02% had no symptoms. The incomplete blink increased after surgery. The opening and closure time was similar before and after surgery. CONCLUSION: With pterygium exeresis the symptoms decreased and the incomplete blink increased a little. Nevertheless the blink rate barely changed. Further research needs to be provided to confirm this hypothesis.
Pterygium; Lacrimal apparatus; Blinking; Dry eye syndromes
