Pterygium and basic tear secretion.

In order to investigate the correlation between the occurrence of pterygium and dryness of the eyes, a Schirmer's No. 1 test was done on both eyes in 60 patients with unilateral pterygia. No difference was found between the mean basic secretion of tears in the diseased eyes (15.33 +/- 8.09 mm) and the fellow eyes (15.65 +/- 7.89 mm), and both were in the normal range for this test. This data suggest that dryness of the eyes cannot be regarded as the cause of pterygium.