Patient Information
翼狀胬肉 is a commonly occurring ocular disease. Pterygium often occurs in regions with abundant sun exposure.
The pterygium patient population is estimated to be approximately 10 million to 15 million patients in the United States and approximately 10 million in Europe.
A pterygium is a benign fibrovascular growth on the cornea that can impair vision. It progressively grows and has cycles of irritation. It is associated with and thought to be caused by ultraviolet light exposure (e.g., sunlight).
Symptoms of pterygium includes hyperemia, irritation, foreign body sensation, and pain. It can cause visual impairment due to lesion obscuration on the visual axis.
There are no FDA-approved drugs for pterygium. Physicians often prescribe off-label drugs including artificial tears, topical corticosteroids, and NSAIDs with limited efficacy or safety concern. Surgical removal is dependent upon visual axis involvement, symptom severity and cosmetic concerns.
上圖顯示現今晚期治療翼狀胬肉的護理標準（手術切除）。不幸的是，術後復發率仍值得關注。
(Sources: 1. Medscape; 2. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Accessed November, 2018.; 3. Hovanesian, J. A. etc., J. Cataract Refract Surg., 2017, 43, 405-419; 4. Rezvan, F. etc., Surv Ophthalmol., 2018, 63, 719-735)
