PROSPECTIVE TRIAL OF INTRAOPERATIVE MITOMYCIN-C IN THE TREATMENT OF PRIMARY PTERYGIUM

Aims-A prospective, randomised, double blind, placebo controlled study of intraoperative mitomycin C as adjunctive treatment of primary pter ygium was conducted. Methods-A total of 66 eyes of 54 patients with pr imary pterygium were treated with excision, with or without a single i ntraoperative application of mitomycin C (0.1 mg/ml for 5 minutes) to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of this adjunctive treatment. The m ean follow up was 14.1 months (range 12-23 months). Results-Of the 36 eyes that underwent simple excision, 14 (38.8%) exhibited recurrences whereas only one of 30 eyes (3.33%) treated with excision and intraope rative application of mitomycin C had recurrence (p=0.0006). Neither s erious ocular complications nor systemic toxicity were noted in the mi tomycin C treated group. Conclusion-Intraoperative mitomycin C appears to be an effective and safe adjunctive treatment of primary pterygium .