Clinical observation on limbal stem cell transplantation and amniotic membrane transplantation for the treatment of pterygium

Abstract

Objective To observe the clinical effect of amniotic membrane transplantation and autologous corneal limbal stem cell transplantation in the treatment of primary pterygium. Methods Seventy-five eyes of 68 cases of pterygium were randomly divided into two groups: the stem cell transplantation groups, 38 eyes of 35 cases, underwent pterygium excision combined with autologous limbal stem cell transplantation; amniotic membrane transplantation group, 37 eyes of 33 cases, underwent pterygium excision combined with amniotic membrane transplantation. The postoperative recurrence, corneal wound healing time and complications of two groups were observed. Results The recurrence rate of stem cell transplantation group was 2.6%, the recurrence rate of amniotic membrane transplantation group was 18.9%, and the recurrence rate of stem cell transplantation group was lower than that of amniotic membrane transplantation group. In the stem cell transplantation group, corneal wound healing time was average (3.49±0.50) days, the average time of corneal wound healing time was (5.28±1.37) days. The corneal wound healing time of the stem cell transplantation group was shorter than that of the amniotic membrane transplantation group, the difference was statistically significant (t=7.550, P=0.000). Conclusion The effect of autologous corneal limbal stem cell transplantation for primary pterygium, with shorter healing time, lower recurrence rate and fewer complications, is better than that of amniotic membrane transplantation. Key words: Pterygium; Transplantation; Stem cell; Amniotic membrane