Pterygium

Pterygium is a degenerative disease of the conjunctiva: the nasal part of the conjunctiva swells and over time this swelling can spread to the cornea and scar it. Wing fur is a disease directly caused by sunlight and is related to the total amount of UV radiation an eye is exposed to during a lifetime. People who have been exposed to a lot of sun or high altitude for years are more likely to get pterygium than others. Accordingly, the disease is found more often in people from the Mediterranean region or in people who live at high altitudes.

Pterygium leads to a number of symptoms:

Dry eyes: Normally, the eyelids moisten the surface through the regular eyelid movements, similar to the windshield wipers on a car. The wing fur now presents a "hump" on the surface and the tear film is not distributed in the area surrounding this hump. The result is a dry eye.
Redness: As a result of chronic dry eye, permanent irritation and redness develops.
The dry surface leads to impaired vision, blurred and foggy vision.

A wing fur can be surgically removed. In a first step, the wing skin is removed under the surgical microscope with a scalpel and scissors and the conjunctiva is closed again. This is done either directly or using a conjunctival graft. A wing fur can have a very high recurrence rate because even microscopic pieces can cause regrowth, so we still smooth and "polish" the ablation site until we are sure that even the smallest remnants have been removed.

If the wing fur has been successfully treated, the dryness as well as the redness will subside over time and the reduced visual acuity will improve.