EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF VITREOUS SURGERY.

BACKGROUND: Vitreoretinal surgical techniques have evolved during the last decades because of the development and evolution of pars plana vitrectomy. The introduction of modern vitrectomy is credited to Robert Machemer (1933-2009). The aim of this review is to characterize the early developments of vitreous removal. METHODS: We used the PubMed web platform to search the terms: complications of cataract surgery, vitrectomy, vitreous body, vitreous humor, vitreous humour, vitreous tap, and vitreous transplantation. Other publications were also considered as a potential source of information when referenced in relevant articles. RESULTS: The first description of vitreous removal for treatment of eye disorders dates the 17th century; it was conducted by a Dutch surgeon Anton Nuck (1650-1692) in a case of hydrophthalmia. In English literature, the first description of vitrectomy is attributed to the American surgeon John Collins Warren (1778-1856). This method was implemented in the spontaneous dislocation of the crystalline lens. As the fibrillar structure of the vitreous once destroyed could not be regenerated, the researchers aimed to restore the chemical composition of the vitreous. For several decades, vitreous transplantation was performed for the treatment of vitreous hemorrhages and retinal detachment. CONCLUSION: Although the achievements of vitreoretinal surgery preceding Machemer's inventions are uncommonly reported, they have contributed to the concept and understanding of the treatment modalities.

The eyes of the angel of death: Ophthalmic experiments of Josef Mengele.

The infamous Schutzstaffel doctor Josef Mengele was known as the Angel of Death for choosing and condemning Jews, gypsies, and other prisoners to the gas chambers at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Less known was his active participation in ophthalmic research with equal disregard for life and ethical principles. Mengele was not an ophthalmologist, but he worked in close collaboration and complicity with two genetic researchers at the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institute in Berlin, Karin Magnussen and Otmar Von Verschuer. The objective of the eye color protocol was to demonstrate hereditary differences in iris structure determined by race and ostensibly to "cure" heterochromia. Mengele sent heterochromous Gypsy eyes to Magnussen, extracted from the bodies of inmates who died (or he killed). Mengele injected adrenaline into children's eyes in an attempt to change eye color and to study environmental influences. Mengele was undoubtedly influenced to conduct these human experiments by his great ambition to publish to obtain academic promotion. These ophthalmologic experiments not only solidify Mengele's reputation as an angel of death but also show the symbiosis that existed between the concentration camp physicians and others in the Nazi medical establishment. Ophthalmology, like all of medicine, has had its share of unethical experimentation, but none with more disregard for life and ethical principles than that of Mengele at Auschwitz.

Albrecht von Graefe (1828-1870) and his contributions to the development of ophthalmology.

PURPOSE: The aim of this article is to show Albrecht von Graefe's contributions to the development of ophthalmology on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his death. He is regarded as the greatest ophthalmologist of the 19th century. Modern and scientific ophthalmology owes its beginning to him. METHODS: Extensive literature research is made and contacts with institutions for history of medicine as well as medico-historians in the field of ophthalmology. RESULTS: His contributions to ophthalmology were multiple. Von Graefe was the first to introduce iridectomy in acute glaucoma treatment, initiated visual field testing and developed the first tonometer. He made the first classification of glaucoma. Von Graefe was the ophthalmologist who created a special knife for cataract surgery. He was also the first to use Helmholtz' ophthalmoscope. He founded the first ophthalmological society in the world and the second ophthalmology journal which has been published continously up to now. In 1852 he founded famous private eye clinic in Berlin, where he treated many eye patients and educated many prominent ophthalmologists. At the age of 29 he became associate professor of ophthalmology, the first with such a title in Germany. CONCLUSION: Albrecht von Graefe was founder of modern ophthalmology and separated it from surgery. Graefe's contacts, correspondency and meetings at ophthalmological congresses with his teachers, assistants, collegaues also contributed to international co-operation and internationalization in ophthalmology. Although Albrecht von Graefe died before 150 years, he still provokes great admiration and respect in the world of ophthalmology.

The Use of Electrotherapeutics in Ophthalmology.

PURPOSE: To present a perspective on the use of electrotherapeutics in the history of ophthalmology along with the development of novel contemporary ophthalmic instrumentation. DESIGN: Perspective study. METHODS: We reviewed historical journals, articles, and books discussing the use of electricity and electrotherapeutics in ophthalmology. RESULTS: Electrotherapeutic applications have been researched and used to treat ocular diseases as far back as the 18th century. By the 20th century, research in electrotherapeutics in ophthalmology had caught the eye of Edward Jackson, the first president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and first editor of the present (third) series American Journal of Ophthalmology. Edward Jackson published an extensive review on this topic and reported a variety of modalities used to treat ocular diseases. CONCLUSIONS: While many early therapeutic uses of electricity did not produce effective and replicable results, studies on electrical stimulation of the eye provided the foundation for the development of clinically significant vision enhancing and restoring instrumentation.

Carl Ferdinand von Arlt, Ritter von Bergschmidt (1812-1887): A Pioneer in Ophthalmology.

Carl Ferdinand von Arlt, Ritter von Bergschmidt (1812-1887) was a pioneer in ophthalmology. The purpose of our paper is to highlight his scientific work. He did not only introduce new surgical techniques and invent new instruments in ocular surgery, but also influenced the development of ophthalmology in the 19th century. He was an excellent and reputable professor of ophthalmology, and his students became very respected figures in ophthalmology.

Pioneer of Chinese Ophthalmology--130th Anniversary of Beijing Tongren Hospital.

Much has been achieved in clinical and scientific research in the past 130 years by Beijing Tongren Hospital, which has evolved from an eye clinic to a comprehensive hospital with an ophthalmology department known as one of the best in China. This article presents the most historic moments and events in the development of a hospital with the largest eye care service volume. In addition, given the leading position of Tongren, the development of ophthalmology in Tongren is also the epitome of the development of modern ophthalmology in China. Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology (BIO) was established in 1959 as an affiliated institution under Tongren, aiming at carrying out applied science and basic science research, and directors of BIO have thus far served 4 terms as president of the Chinese Ophthalmological Society. In 2002, Beijing Tongren Eye Center (hereafter referred to as the Eye Center) was established to combine all the ophthalmic resources within Tongren. In 2017, the Eye Center alone had a surgical volume of 78,223, with surgeries for cataract, refractive errors, fundus, glaucoma, and corneal disease being the 5 most common, and 902,409 outpatient visits. Equipped with the leading experts and equipment, Tongren is dedicated to the battle against major eye diseases by carrying out large population-based epidemiological surveys and basic science research on pathogenesis and effective treatments, thereby making contributions to the development of the science of ophthalmology along with the delivery of eye care services in China and beyond.

[To the history of ophthalmology clinic at the Moscow University]. / K istorii sozdaniya oftal'mologicheskoi kliniki Moskovskogo universiteta.

This is the first time the process of organizing the Clinic of Eye Diseases at the Moscow University has been traced and systematized basing on archival documents and publications - from rendering three beds for ophthalmology patients within the surgical clinic in 1805 to the establishment of a separate department of ophthalmology and subsequent foundation of the Hospital Eye Clinic in the Devich'e pole (Virgin's field) district in 1892.

Ophthalmologic wax models as an educational tool for 18th-century vision scientists.

The Medical Faculties of the University of Padua (Italy) and the University of Vienna (Austria) preserved two series of wax models, made by the Austrian Johann Nepomuk Hoffmayr at the beginning of the 19th century. These models were created in a period of evolution of both medical specialties and organ pathology, which brought morbid organs at the centre of medical investigation. Ceroplastic was considered a useful tool for didactic and research, as it provided a three-dimensional realistically coloured reproduction of organic lesions. The models represent the typical eye diseases of the period, in particular those affecting external parts, which could be investigated without the need for specific instruments devised for the observation of the inner and posterior anatomy of the eye, at that time not yet available. Even if the nosological categories then employed by Hoffmayr were different from those currently used, it has been possible to find a correspondence thanks to the ophthalmological literature of his period. Ceroplastic started to decline at the end of 19th century, substituted by the much less expensive method of preservation of morbid organs in formalin and by new techniques of investigation of the inner body, such as X-ray.

François Pourfour du Petit (1664-1741): pioneer in ocular biometry.

PURPOSE: To outline the important contributions of the French physician Petit to the development of ocular biometry. CONTENT: After a brief review of Petit's life and his studies in neurology, anatomy, and cataract surgery, the methodology and results of his work in measuring many of the biometric parameters of the human eye are discussed. Among other techniques, he made use of frozen sections of eyes to explore their dimensions and employed an immersion technique to avoid the effect of corneal refraction on the appearance of the iris. His pioneering biometric results have been largely confirmed by modern studies. Those on the changes in the crystalline lens with age are particularly striking and suggest that these ocular aging effects have changed little over the last 300 years. Although largely forgotten today, his biometric work exercised a considerable influence on his more immediate successors, including Porterfield and Thomas Young. SUMMARY: François Pourfour du Petit deserves to be remembered as an important contributor to our understanding of the structure and dimensions of the human eye.