Antonio Scarpa (1752-1832) and his study on ocular cancer.

ABSTRACT

Antonio Scarpa (1752-1832) is known in the history of medicine as a distinguished anatomist and surgeon. Apart from his anatomical studies that established him and especially in clinical anatomy, he focused also his interest on ophthalmology, therefore he was considered as the "father of ophthalmology in Italy". His study on ocular cancer is of particular interest, because he not only reviewed older approaches on this issue enriching them with his own clinical observations but his study served as a bridge connecting the previous tradition to the scientific study of ocular cancer which began at the second third of 19th century.