Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation of vasculogenic mimicry in the primary and recurrent pterygium. Methods: Platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1/periodic acid-schiff (CD31/PAS)immunohistochemical double staining method was adopted to detect the expression of VM in 139 cases of pterygium (105 cases of primary pterygium and 34 cases of recurrent pterygium)and 10 cases of normal conjunctival tissues. The correlation between VM and primary pterygium, recurrent pterygium and the factors such as gender and age of patients were analyzed. Human pterygium fibroblasts (HPFs) were primary cultured and identified by immunocytochemical staining. The differences in the number of VM channels between primary HPFs and recurrent HPFs were observed by three-dimensional culture and PAS staining. Results: There was no VM structure in 10 normal conjunctiva and the positive rate of VM was 43.81% in primary pterygium and 82.35% in recurrent pterygium with a significantly difference (P<0.001). Correlation analysis showed a significant positive correlation between VM and recurrent pterygium (r=0.332). There was no significant difference in the expression of VM in pterygium patients with different sex, age and course (all P>0.05). Vimentin was positive in the primary cultured cells, which was consistent with the characteristics of fibroblasts. The results of three-dimensional culture and PAS staining indicated that HPFs had the ability to construct VM model in vitro, and the number of VM channels constituted by recurrent HPFs was significantly higher than that by primary HPFs, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.01). Conclusion: VM exists in pterygium tissues, and it can be used as one of the blood supply routes, which is closely related to the recurrence of pterygium.