Stocker's line in pterygium.

Pterygium is a fibrovascular proliferative disorder in which conjunctival tissue grows medially to cover the clear cornea. It is well known that outdoor work in situations with high light reflectivity enhances pterygium development. Surgical resection is not always necessary for patients without visual disturbance or cosmetic complaint.

A 63‐year‐old woman presented with a 5‐year history of a slow growing wing‐shaped ocular surface lesion in the left eye. Her best corrected visual acuity was 1.2 in the right eye and .9 in the left eye. On slit‐lamp examination showed marked pterygium that extend from the nasal side of bulbar conjunctiva onto the cornea in the left eye. A vertical gold leaf‐like line was also detected at the head of pterygium (Figure 1 arrow). Inferior conjunctival autograft transplantation was performed. One year after the surgery, there was no evidence of recurrence (Figure 2). Her left visual acuity improved to 1.2.

Figure 1

Preoperative slit‐lamp photograph

Figure 2

Postoperative slit‐lamp photograph

A vertical line at the head of pterygium has been termed Stocker's line.1, 2, 3, 4 The lesion consisted of corneal linear iron deposition.3, 4 Several iron lines of the superficial cornea are generally recognized in ophthalmology: Fleischer's ring in keratoconus, Hudson‐Stähli's line in corneal scar, Ferry's line in filtering bleb, and Stocker's line in pterygium.2, 3, 4 Stocker's line is a punctate, brownish, subepithelial line passing vertically in front of the invasive apex of the pterygium. The mechanism of iron deposition in the development of pterygium is still unknown, but iron level was reported significantly higher in the pterygium tissue than in the normal conjunctiva.5

Although pterygium is a common disease, we emphasize that peculiar vertical line related to pterygium.

Conflict of Interests

The authors have stated explicitly that there are no conflicts of interest in connection with this article.