[Eyeblink rate before and after pterygium exeresis]. / Ritmo de piscar em portadores de pterígio antes e após a exérese.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the eyeblink rate in patients with pterygium before and after the lesion exeresis. METHODS: Forty-one patients with pterygium were evaluated before and 60 days after the lesion exeresis. They were digitally videotaped during one minute in a standard setting using a Sony Digital 8 DCR - TRV110 and the images were transferred to a personal computer (McIntosh 400) and processed with the iMovie software. The patients stayed in primary gaze position, under artificial illumination. Total blink, complete and incomplete blink and the opening and closure time were measured using frames scale. The data were submitted to statistical analysis. RESULTS: Before surgery, 36.36% of the patients with pterygium complained of foreign body and after that, 61.02% had no symptoms. The incomplete blink increased after surgery. The opening and closure time was similar before and after surgery. CONCLUSION: With pterygium exeresis the symptoms decreased and the incomplete blink increased a little. Nevertheless the blink rate barely changed. Further research needs to be provided to confirm this hypothesis.

Ritmo de piscar em portadores de pterígio antes e após a exérese / Eyeblink rate before and after pterygium exeresis

OBJETIVO: Avaliar o ritmo de piscar de portadores de pterígio antes e depois da exérese. MÉTODOS: Foram avaliados os movimentos palpebrais de 41 pacientes antes e 60 dias depois da remoção cirúrgica da lesão. Os movimentos palpebrais foram capturados durante 1 minuto, usando filmadora Sony Digital 8 DCR - TRV110, sob iluminação artificial, com o indivíduo em posição primária do olhar, tendo como ponto de fixação a própria filmadora. As imagens obtidas foram processadas por computador, quantificando-se o total de movimentos de piscar, o número de piscar completo e incompleto, e as respectivas durações. Os dados foram submetidos à análise estatística. RESULTADOS: Antes da cirurgia 36,36 por cento dos pacientes queixavam-se de sensação de corpo estranho e após a cirurgia, 61,02 por cento estavam assintomáticos. A avaliação do ritmo de piscar revelou que a freqüência do piscar incompleto aumentou no pós-operatório. A duração do piscar não se alterou antes e após a cirurgia. CONCLUSÃO: A exérese do pterígio leva à diminuição dos sintomas irritativos. Após a remoção da lesão, houve discreto aumento da freqüência de piscar incompleto. Há a possibilidade da presença do pterígio não estar relacionada com alterações do filme lacrimal, considerando que a alteração do ritmo de piscar foi discreta. No entanto, outros estudos deverão ser realizados para afirmar ou contestar esta hipótese.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the eyeblink rate in patients with pterygium before and after the lesion exeresis. METHODS: Forty-one patients with pterygium were evaluated before and 60 days after the lesion exeresis. They were digitally videotaped during one minute in a standard setting using a Sony Digital 8 DCR - TRV110 and the images were transferred to a personal computer (McIntosh 400) and processed with the iMovie software. The patients stayed in primary gaze position, under artificial ilumination. Total blink, complete and incomplete blink and the opening and closure time were measured using frames scale. The data were submitted to statistical analysis. RESULTS: Before surgery, 36.36 percent of the patients with pterygium complained of foreign body and after that, 61.02 percent had no symptoms. The incomplete blink increased after surgery. The opening and closure time was similar before and after surgery. CONCLUSION: With pterygium exeresis the symptoms decreased and the incomplete blink increased a little. Nevertheless the blink rate barely changed. Further research needs to be provided to confirm this hypothesis.