A rare case of corneal keloid occurred 30 years after pterygium surgery and 3 years after cataract surgery

PURPOSE: We report a case of corneal keloid occurring 30 years after pterygium surgery and 3 years after cataract surgery. OBSERVATIONS: The case of a 72-year-old man was referred because of blurred vision and corneal opacity in the right eye. Pterygium surgery had been performed on the right eye 30 years earlier, and bilateral cataract surgery had been done uneventfully via a temporal corneal incision 3 years ago. Deterioration of vision occurred in the right eye from 2 years ago. At the initial visit, his best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 20/2000 on the right. A white nodule that was well demarcated from the underlying stroma was seen on the right cornea. The nodule was excised by superficial keratectomy, with BCVA being 180/200 at 1 week after surgery. Pathological examination of the resected specimen revealed proliferation of fibroblasts and haphazard arrangement of collagen bundles, leading to a diagnosis of corneal keloid. Keloid-like lesion was also later noted in temporal corneal incision site of cataract surgery. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPORTANCE: This rare case of corneal keloid occurred as a late complication of pterygium surgery.