THE PRESENCE OF HERPESVIRUSES IN PTERYGIUM

Pterygium is a chronic disease of unknown origin and pathogenesis. It is a vision threatening disease where surgical excision is effective. We examined surgically excised symptomatic pterygia for the presence o f herpesviruses such as cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes simplex virus (H SV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA using the polymerase chain reacti on (PCR) technique. Samples of normal conjuctival tissue from limpus a t 12 or 6 hours were excised in some of the eyes treated; they were us ed as controls. HSV DNA was detected in 9 and CMV DNA in 8 out of the 20 examined samples. In 3 out of the 20 examined samples both HSV and CMV DNA were detected whereas EBV DNA was not found in any of the exam ined samples. These results suggest that HSV and CMV may contribute to the pathogenesis of pterygium.