Pterygium and basic tear secretion.
In order to investigate the correlation between the occurrence of pterygium and dryness of the eyes, a Schirmer's No. 1 test was done on both eyes in 60 patients with unilateral pterygia. No difference was found between the mean basic secretion of tears in the diseased eyes (15.33 +/- 8.09 mm) and the fellow eyes (15.65 +/- 7.89 mm), and both were in the normal range for this test. This data suggest that dryness of the eyes cannot be regarded as the cause of pterygium.
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011625:Pterygium / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013666:Tears / Q000378:metabolism*