Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of Intra-Operative Mitomycin C For Pterygium Surgery In African Eyes

Aims: This study was designed to evaluate Pterygium surgery and intra-operative mitomycin C application in Warri, Nigeria. Methods: Case files of all patients who had pterygium surgery and intra operative application of 0.4 mg/ml of Mitomycin C; and were followed up for a minimum of 12months at DDS Eye Surgery in Warri, Nigeria between January 1998 – June 2002 were reviewed. Results: One hundred and two eyes (87patients) had pterygium surgery and mitomycin C application intraoperatively. Fifteen eyes (14.7%) had recurrence after a minimum follow up period of 12 months. The male to female ratio was 1.4:1. The mean age of all the patients was 41.6 years. The mean age of the patients with recurrence was 39.6 years while that of the non-recurrence was 43.3 years. Main complications encountered were conjunctival granuloma thirteen (12.8%); delayed healing nine (8.8%); scleral melt three (2.9%). None of the eyes with delayed healing or scleral-melt had recurrence of their pterygium, but four out of thirteen eyes (31%) with conjunctival granuloma had recurrence of their pterygia. Use of native medication (cocktail of herbal extracts) and duration of pterygium before surgery had no bearing on recurrence. Most of the recurrences occurred between the 4th and the 6th months (73.3%). Conclusion: Single intra-operative application of 0.4mg/ml of mitomycin C was found to be effective in reducing the incidence of recurrence of pterygium below 15% (14.7%) in African eyes. Ophthalmologists are advised to give patients the maximum benefit of pterygium surgery by using intra-operative mitomycin C. Keywords: Pterygium recurrence, Post operative complications, Mitomycin CSahel Medical Journal Vol. 10 (4) 2007: pp. 132-13

The Relationship Between Socio-Demographic Factors and Severity of Visual Field Loss in Glaucoma Patients at Initial Presentation In Benin-City, Nigeria

Late presentation continues to be a major problem of patients with primary open angle glaucoma. The aim of this study is to determine the socio-demographic factors, which affect the severity of visual field loss at initial presentation. A prospective study of 154 new patients with a diagnosis of primary open angle glaucoma seen between January 1997 and August 1998 at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria were analyzed in the context of gender, marital status, religion geographical abode, education status, occupation and monthly income. The patients were examined using the Bjerrum screen. The mean age was 52.73 years (SD+ 15.98) and the male to female ratio was 2.1:1. Eighty-seven patients (56.5%) presented late with visual field constricted to less than 100 of fixation. Gender, marital status, religions and geographical abode did not significantly affect the severity of visual field loss at presentation. There was a significant difference with occupation (P>0.05), educational status (P>0.05) and with monthly income (P>0.01). Patients in the higher socioeconomic classes, those who had tertiary level of education and those in the higher monthly income groups presented earlier than those in the lower socioeconomic classes, those with lower educational status and those in the lower monthly income groups respectively. Economic empowerment, poverty alleviation and improvement in educational status can reduce the problem of late presentation. KEY WORDS:Factors, severity, field loss, glaucoma. Sahel Med. J. Vol.5(4) 2002: 195-19