Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the involvement of human papillomavirus in the pathogenesis of primary and recurrent pterygium in northern Israel.
Methods: A retrospective study examined 100 randomly chosen pterygium specimens with solar elastosis, from 100 patients who underwent pterygium surgery during 2012-2013 at the Emek Medical Center. All the specimens were analysed for evidence of human papillomavirus infection by immunohistochemistry.
Results: Human papillomavirus was not detected in any of the 100 pterygia samples by immunohistochemistry. These used samples were taken from 100 patients with mean age of 51.5 years and a primary: recurrent ratio of 8.09:1.
Conclusion: We conclude from our study that human papillomavirus infection does not appear to be an important pathogenic factor of pterygium in Israel.
Keywords: human papillomavirus; immunohistochemistry; pathogenesis of pterygium; pterygium.
© 2015 Emek Medical Center.