AIM:To research the association between primary progressive pterygium and tear film.

METHODS: Totally 60 cases of primary progressive pterygium from September 2012 to June 2013 in our hospital were enrolled. The pterygium eye was for observation group and the contralateral eye as the control group. The differences of eye symptoms, tear film break-up time(BUT), SchirmerⅠ test(SⅠt), corneal fluorescein staining(FL), tear ferning test(TFT)and the conjunctival impression cytology(CIC)were compared between two groups.

RESULTS: The eyes in observation group had higher symptoms score, FL score, grades of conjunctival squamous metaplasia, percentage of abnormal tear ferning, but had lower BUT and density of goblet cell, the differences had statistically significance(P<0.05); Similar SⅠt results were presented in the two groups, the difference had no statistically significance(P>0.05).

CONCLUSION: Primary progressive pterygium can cause a decrease in tear film stability, which in turn lead to some dry eye symptoms such as dry feeling and burning sensation, and its mechanism may be caused by multi-factors, such as density change of goblet cell and the tear fluid dynamics.