Father Waclaw Szuniewicz--Polish missionary, ophthalmologist, pioneer of refractive surgery of the cornea

The article presents the life and work of Polish missionary of Saint Vincent a Paulo order, an ophthalmologist, Father Wac?aw Szuniewicz. He was born in 1891 in the Vilnius region. He completed his medical studies in Moscow in 1916. He specialised in ophthalmology at Stefan Batory University in Vilnius. In 1927 he entered the missionary order and after being ordained n 1930, he was sent for mission to China. There he developed his involvement in ophthalmology and established the ophthalmic ward in Shuntehfu that became very renowned. After taking over by the communist in China, he went to US in 1948. He continued his experimental work on surgical method on changing corneal curvature at Yale University in New Haven. In 1952 he went to Brasil where he continued his work as a missionary and an ophthalmologist. He was a man of great kindness and knowledge. He had particular language skill. At high school and during his medical and theological studies, he mastered Russian, French, English, Latin and Hebrew. He also learnt Chinese and Portugese. He was able to communicate in Lithuanian and Byelorus. He died in Brazil on 16 october 1963. His scientific accomplishments make him one of the pioneers of refractive surgery of cornea.     

A Tribute to Douglas Argyll Robertson in the Centenary of his Death: His Achievements,the Influence of his Father and his “Pupil” Today

Douglas Argyll Robertson (1837–1909) was the first surgeon in Scotland to practice entirely in the field of ophthalmology. He completed his medical education under von Arlt in Prague and Albrecht von Graefe in Berlin. He made major contributions to ophthalmic surgery. He described that in cases of spinal cord disease there may be loss of the pupil light reflex but retention of the response to accommodation. This condition was named the “Argyll Robertson pupil” which has become one of the best known physical signs in Neurology. Argyll Robertson can be credited with a large number of other original observations in neuro-ophthalmology and he made a particular contribution to the management of glaucoma both from the discovery of the action of physostigmine (extract of the Calabar bean) and as the first to recommend trephining the sclera in those cases of glaucoma where extensive degenerative changes in the iris made an iridectomy impracticable. Less widely known was the importance of his father (John Argyll Robertson) as a likely influence on his choice of career. Current understanding of the pathophysiological basis of the “Argyll Robertson pupil” is discussed.     

Interesting life father's of Polish ophthalmology--Wiktor Feliks Szokalski (1811-1891)--in 200 years anniversary of his birth

Victor Szokalski is considered to be the father of Polish ophthalmology. He was born in Warsaw in 1811, where he also began his medical studies. He fought in the November's Uprising. He was awarded the Military Cross Virtuti. After its fall he went to Germany, where he continued his studies. In 1834 he defended his doctoral thesis. Then he moved to France, where worked at the Eye Clinic of Jules Sichel. He wrote many articles for medical journals and taught students. Already in Paris he acted in a number of social societies, collaborated with Prince Adam Czartoryski, was a friend of Adam Mickiewicz. Fifteen years later he returned to Warsaw, where became a consultant, then the chief at the Ophthalmic Institute. For 33 years he has served as secretary of the Warsaw Medical Society. He wrote the first Polish original textbook of ophthalmology. He died in Warsaw in 1891.     

Alfred Th. Leber (1881-1954): a pioneer in tropical ophthalmology. Missing in the South Seas--rediscovered in India]

In spite of the brief duration of German colonial rule during that period tropical medicine enjoyed a remarkable growth and development. This is the first account of the career of the pioneer of tropical ophthalmology, Alfred Theodor Leber (1881-1954); medical history had previously reported him missing in Java after the 1st world war. His career was greatly influenced by his uncle, Theodor Leber (1840-1917), the founder of experimental ophthalmology. Alfred Leber was the one who combined teaching and research in the subjects of ophthalmology and tropical medicine. During his first expedition as a private lecturer together with von Prowazek in Samoa (1910-1911), he discovered the involvement of the eye in filarial infections with Wuchereria bancrofti (Lebers fundus). In consideration of his extraordinary work he was appointed professor at the young age of 33. After his training at the eye clinic at Berlin University under von Michel he worked as senior physician with von Hippel in G?ttingen. Both Ludwig Külz and the famous painter Emil Nolde joined him on his second expedition, to New Guinea, in 1913. During his expedition in summer 1914 World War I broke out. Leber could not return to Germany. He stayed in the neutral Dutch East Indies during these years. Favoured by the ravages of war, British and Australian authorities (Military Intelligence, War Office, Defence) succeeded in seizing some of Leber's research reports and kept them under lock and key. The "Leber-Külz medical demographic New Guinea expedition on behalf of the Reich's Colonial Office" was therefore known to the public only as "Emil Nolde's travels in the South Seas".(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

A tribute to Charles David Kelman MD: ophthalmologist, inventor and pioneer of phacoemulsification surgery

Charles David Kelman was born in Brooklyn, New York, USA, on 23 May 1930 and passed away in Boca Raton, Florida, USA, on 1 June 2004 at the age of 74 years after a long battle with cancer. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Tufts University in 1950 and completed medical studies at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, in 1956. He was Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at New York Medical College and an Attending Surgeon at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary and Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital. Although a prolific inventor, he will be best remembered for developing phacoemulsification, following his realization while sitting in a dentist's chair, that ultrasonic vibrations could be used to emulsify the aged crystalline lens through a very small incision. His pioneering work revolutionized cataract surgery. He also pioneered cryo-extraction of cataracts, the use of freezing for the repair of retinal detachments and designed numerous ophthalmic instruments and intraocular lenses. Dr Kelman received numerous awards, including the American Academy of Ophthalmology Achievement Award (1970), the Ridley Medal from the International Congress of Ophthalmology (1990), and the Inventor of the Year Award from The New York Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law Association (1992). Most recently (2003), Dr Kelman was honoured by the American Academy of Ophthalmology with the Laureate Recognition award. Dr Kelman was also an accomplished Broadway producer, composer and jazz saxophonist. With his demise, the ophthalmic and medical community lost a famed inventor with multifaceted talents and one of the great ophthalmologists of the twentieth century.     

Die Bedeutung der Arbeiten Albrecht von Graefes für die Gesichtsfeldprüfung

Summary von Graefe's paper Über die Untersuchung des Gesichtsfeldes bei amblyopischen Affektionen initiated the systematic examination of the visual field in ophthalmology. He insisted that the objective changes recorded by the ophthalmoscope should be related to the resulting functional disturbances. His treatise is of fundamental importance with its wealth of keen observations and new methods. Von Graefe made a distinction between absolute and relative loss of vision within field defects and demonstrated the significance of fixation in perimetry. He described the characteristic lesions of choroiditis, detachment of the retina and the various forms of hemianopia. Cataract and opacities of the vitreous cause only relative interference with the visual field. Visual defects are highly significant in glaucoma, although von Graefe failed to recognize the characteristic development of these lesions. Perimetry was for him indispensable in examining the individual patient: he liked to demonstrate it on his patients in order to bring home to his students how important it is in diagnosis and prognosis, thus establishing perimetry as a clinical examination procedure.     

Prof. Carl Wilhelm von Zehender (1819-1916)--first professor of ophthalmology and co-founder of the ophthalmological clinic at the University of Rostock--commemorative lecture at the 100th DOG meeting in Berlin from 26.9 to 29.9.2002

The Grand-ducal University Eye Department in Rostock was solemnly inaugurated 16 May 1892. According to many years of studies in Europe and on efforts to build this clinic, construction was outlined by Professor Carl Wilhelm v. Zehender, but the drafts were executed by the "Grossherzoglich-Mecklenburgisch-Schwerinschen Medicinalcommission" and Landbaumeister Schlosser in winter 1888/89. Professor v. Zehender, who originated from a very ancient Swiss family, was born in Bremen, 21 May 1819. He studied medicine in Goettingen, Jena, Prague, Paris and Vienna. During this time he developed a lifelong friendship with Albrecht v. Graefe. 1856 he took over the medical care for the hereditary duke Georg von Mecklenburg-Strelitz and published the "Correspondenzblatt für Aerzte im Grossherzoglichen Mecklenburg-Strelitz". 1857, during a conference in Heidelberg, his initiative led in the long run to the establishment of the "Heidelberger Ophthalmologische Gesellschaft", the forerunner of the "Deutsche Ophthalmologische Gesellschaft", which was founded in 1920. In 1863 the first edition of "Klinische Monatsblaetter für Augenheilkunde" was published as a periodical; the cover page bore its name as the founder of the magazine. In 1866, after the death of the hereditary duke and a professorship in his hometown Berne, he became honorary professor of the Rostock University, and from 1869 onwards he chaired the clinic as a regular professor. After all his efforts to build his own hospital had failed, he demonstratively and finally resigned from his professorship in 1889. He went to Munich and became editor of the " Klinische Monatsblaetter für Augenheilkunde". In 1907 he moved with his wife via Eutin to Warnemuende. There the nestor of world ophthalmologists died at the age of 98. His burial place without gravestone is situated in today's landscape park "Stephan Jantzen". So far all efforts of the author and of the Rostock University Eye Department taken after 1980 to create a worthy note to this exceptional ophthalmologist in the Baltic Sea resort Warnemuende were unsuccessful, also for financial reasons. But on 2.9.2002 with the help of the Lighthouse Club of Warnemuende a memorial plaque to Prof. C. W. v. Zehender was mounted on the guest house "Margarete". This plaque commemorates Professor Zehender's merits in establishing the DOG, planning and building the eye clinic of the university of Rostock.     

Samuel Theobald M.D.

Although ophthalmology today at the Johns Hopkins Hospital is synonymous with the name of Wilmer, it should be remembered that the Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute was not founded until 1925. Thus, to appreciate fully the ophthalmic heritage of Johns Hopkins we must look back to the beginnings of the medical institutions. When the Johns Hopkins Hospital opened in 1889 and the medical school followed in 1893, Samuel Theobald, M.D., was appointed ophthalmic and aural surgeon, and later clinical professor of ophthalmology and otology. Dr. Theobald, a native Baltimorean, was a member of the prestigious Smith family, which distinguished itself in early American medicine. He was raised in the home of his grandfather, Dr. Nathan Ryno Smith who directed his education. Dr. Theobald studied ophthalmology and otology abroad before opening a practice in Baltimore in 1871. Before his appointment at Johns Hopkins he was one of the founders of the Baltimore Eye, Ear and Throat Charity Hospital in 1882. In addition to his teaching at the medical school and his work in the dispensary, he contributed for his development of ‘Theobald lacrimal probes’, the introduction of boric acid as a collyrium, and his text bookPrevalent Diseases of the Eye. He was a member of the American Ophthalmological Society for 50 years and its 14th President. In 1925 at the age of 79 years, he retired and became emeritus. Read at the annual meeting of the Cogan Ophthalmic History Society, The National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, March 15 and 16, 1996.     

Did Edgar Degas have an inherited retinal degeneration?

OBJECTIVE: Retrospective analysis of the famous painter Edgar Degas' eye disease. DESIGN: A historical review and analysis based on Degas' paintings and letters exchanged between the painter and his friends and family members, as well as on the chronicles of his associates. DeGas-Musson family papers at the Howard-Tilton Library of Tulane University are also reviewed. RESULTS: Degas had an eye disease that was first noticed in 1870 and that progressed throughout his life. He suffered from progressive bilateral central visual loss and light sensitivity which was most acutely recognized while he was visiting his mother's side of the family in New Orleans where he could not paint outside because of the bright sun. Edgar's maternal first cousin, Estelle Musson, also suffered gradual bilateral visual loss, and was also known to have light sensitivity early in her life. Estelle became totally blind in her early 30s. Both Edgar and Estelle were otherwise healthy and lived long lives. CONCLUSION: It is likely that Edgar Degas and his cousin Estelle Musson had a hereditary retinal degeneration primarily affecting their central vision. Degas' retinal disease undoubtedly affected his life and his art but did not prevent him from being one of the most admired painters of all times.     

Centennial of the Basle Eye Hospital and its founder Heinrich Schiess]

100 years ago Dr. Heinrich Schiess has founded with private means through his personal initiative the eye clinic of Basle. In the same year this clinic become the University Eye Hospital by subsidising from the State. The development of the clinic since 1864 in the past 100 years in discussed. At the same time the life of Dr. Heinrich Schiess, since 1876 Professor of Ophthalmology at the Medical Faculty of Basle, is described. Especially mentioned are his contacts with Albrecht v. Graefe in Berlin and in Heiden.     

Bilateral blindness in a monocular patient after cataract surgery

We present the case of a 74-year-old monocular man who went blind in his sighted eye from complications of exudative age-related macular degeneration several months after cataract surgery. He is now bilaterally blind.     

Jules Gonin. Pioneer of retinal detachment surgery

Before the turn of the 20th century, eyes with a retinal detachment were considered doomed. Contrary to other branches of ophthalmology, such as cataract extraction, the surgical treatment of retinal detachment was still in its infancy, and the surgical success rates were less than five percent. From 1902 to 1921 Jules Gonin almost single handedly changed the landscape of retinal detachment surgery forever. He recognised that the retinal break was the cause--and not the consequence as it was largely believed at the time--of the retinal detachment, and that the treatment had at all costs to comprise the closure of the break by cauterisation. He named the procedure ignipuncture, as he cauterised the retina through the sclera with a very hot pointed instrument. Despite rigorously detailed clinical observations and increasing success rates, his discovery was not readily accepted and sometimes openly opposed by a large part of the ophthalmic establishment. It was not until 1929 that he received worldwide acclaim at the International Ophthalmological Congress in Amsterdam for his surgical technique. His legacy lives on in the eye hospital in Lausanne that bears his name, in the Gonin Medal awarded by the International Council of Ophthalmology every four years for the highest achievement in ophthalmology, and in a street named after him, the very street that he used to walk from his home to the hospital every day.     

The ophthalmic wound of Philip II of Macedonia (360-336 BCE)

The aim of this report is to present the ophthalmic wound of King Philip II of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great. From a series of ancient literary and historical sources, a number of archaeological finds, and the paleopathological remains in the supposed tomb of Philip in Vergina, it can be deduced that the king was seriously wounded in his right eye during the siege of Methoni. The renowned physician Critobulos undertook the removal of the arrow that had injured the eye and the postoperative follow-up. He was already experienced and belonged to the official medical family of Asclepiades of Cos Island. It seems that an ugly scar remained in the area of Philip's right eye, possibly causing him psychological problems.     

Franz Liszt and Alfred Graefe. Ophthalmic surgery in 1886

In the last years of his life, the Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt (1811–1886) suffered debilitating eye disease which was allied to his declining general health. During this period the style of his musical composition changed. Franz Liszt suffered from cataracts and from external eye disease, probably staphylococcal blepharitis. The paper examines the cause of his illness and evaluates its influence on his composition and performance. The paper also outlines the evolution of contemporary ophthalmic surgery and the illustrious career of Liszt's ophthalmologist, Alfred Graefe of Halle (1830–1899).     

Albrecht von Graefe,seine Persönlichkeit,seine Zeit

Summary This essay leaves aside Graefe's achievements in science and ophthalmology to present the man—Graefe as human being—chiefly on the basis of his surviving letters and the correspondence with his friend Waldau, as well as with Donders, Horner and Jakobson.His brief life not only glowed with incredible scientific intensity, it was also distinguished by an imposing personality. The first half of his adult life was filled with the happy activity of a liberal-minded extrovert, tasting the pleasures of Nature on long mountain excursions; the second half was a courageous fight against severe illness and a variety of family troubles. Graefe won through as a man, and this is perhaps an even greater achievement than his fundamental work in ophthalmology. His humanity makes him attractive to us, brings the critical, questioning pathophysiologist, the skulles operator, the inspiring teacher and exceptional organizer to life for us, making him seem almost contemporary.     

The foundation of experimental ophthalmology by Theodor Leber

Theodor Leber grew up in Heidelberg as the son of a professor of Romance languages. Initially he planned to study natural sciences. Bunsen's advice led him to medicine. During his studies he succeeded in solving a competition problem posed by Helmholtz in the medical department. A short period of practical work in the eye hospital of Knapp was unsatisfactory. In Vienna with the physiologist Carl Ludwig, he was able in 1863/64, at the age of only 24 years, to demonstrate the blood circulation of the eye by color injections into the arteries and veins. Since that time the schematic drawings of his results can be found in every textbook of ophthalmology. On the occasion of the congress of the German Ophthalmological Society in Heidelberg in 1864, Theodor Leber reported on these findings and met with immense approval. In 1864–67 he followed an invitation as coworker of Liebreich to Paris; in 1867 he became A.v. Graefe's coworker in Berlin; in 1871 he moved to Göttingen, which became the first eye clinic with a laboratory for experimental investigations.The second epoch-making discovery accomplished by Leber was the detection of the fluid exchange in the eye. These results have also been confirmed by modern methods. Therefore, Theodor Leber can be called the father of experimental ophthalmology.     

The utilization of a temporal mirror coating on the back surface of the lens as a field enhancement device.

A 37-year-old male had a right homonymous hemianopia due to trauma. During his initial low vision assessment, a small clip-on mirror was dispensed to help him compensate for his field loss. At follow-up, he reported satisfaction with the mirror. He also reported that novelty "look behind you" sunglasses were beneficial to him and less conspicuous than the clip-on mirror. He requested temporal mirror coating on otherwise clear lenses so that he could utilize the glasses at night or on cloudy days. We fabricated this for him and also mounted a small mirror nasally within the vertex distance behind his frame. The fabrication of the two devices will be discussed as well as a comparison of these three field enhancement devices.     

Mark Joseph Schoenberg MD: innovator,teacher, leader (1874-1945)

Mark Joseph Schoenberg is known for his leadership and several important contributions to ophthalmology: 1) He performed the first retinal detachment operation in the United States; 2) he established the first glaucoma clinic in the United States; 3) he was the chief founder of the New York Society for Clinical Ophthalmology; and 4) he innovated the standardization of Schiotz tonometers.