Corneal Epithelial Autograft for Pterygium

Inclusion Criteria: 1. Age between 18 to 80 years old; 2. Primary pterygium, scheduled for elective surgical excision; 3. Pterygium encroaching from the nasal side onto the cornea, with less than 180° limbal involvement and without approaching the central visual axis (pupil area); 4. Morphologically intact palisades of Vogt in a given limbal region; 5. Absence of any one of the following structures in the limbal region underneath the pterygium: (1) epithelial basal cells with dark cytoplasm and reflective cell borders; (2) at least two prominent palisade ridge structures; (3) at least one circular and/or oval-shaped focal stromal projection; 6. Informed consent signed by patient or legal guardian; Having the ability to comply with study assessments for the full duration of the study. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Limbal stem cell deficiency by ocular surface disorders other than pterygium; 2. Inability to determine whether the palisades of Vogt underneath the pterygium is absent or not using in vivo confocal microscopy; 3. High myopia with a spherical equivalent of -15.0 D or less; 4. Corneal or ocular surface infection within 30 days prior to study entry; 5. Ocular surface malignancy; 6. Uncontrolled diabetes with most recent Hemoglobin A1c greater than 8.5%; 7. Renal failure with creatinine clearance\< 25ml/min; 8. Alanine aminotransferase \> 40IU/L, or aspartate aminotransferase \> 40IU/L; 9. Platelet levels \< 150,000 or \> 450,000 per microliter; 10. Hemoglobin \< 12.0 g/dL (male) or \< 11.0 g/dL (female); 11. Prothrombin time \> 16s and activated partial thrombin time \> 35s in patients not accepting anticoagulant therapy; An international normalized ratio greater than 3 in patients accepting anticoagulant therapy; 12. Pregnancy (positive test) or lactation; 13. Participation in another simultaneous medical investigation or clinical trial; 14. Severe cicatricial eye disease; 15. Ocular comorbidities that affect the prognosis of transplantation, such as advanced glaucoma or retinal diseases; 16. Severe dry eye disease as determined by Schirmer's test \< 2mm at least in one eye; 17. Any medical or social condition that in the judgement of the investigator would interfere with or serve as a contraindication to adherence to the study protocol or ability to give informed consent; 18. Signs of current infection, including fever and treatment with antibiotics; 19. Active immunological diseases; 20. History of allo-limbal transplantation, penetrating keratoplasty or anti-glaucoma filtering surgeries.