The first cataract surgeons in Anglo-America

Leffler, Christopher T.; Schwartz, Stephen G.; Grzybowski, Andrzej; Braich, Puneet S.

doi:10.1016/j.survophthal.2014.08.002

Cited by 4 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“… 4 In the English-speaking colonies, surgeon John Morphy performed a couching on Montserrat in 1751 ( Table 4 ). 3 , 87 - 89 , 129 - 133 Because the operation caused the patient “anguish,” he ran through the streets, and the cataract rose again. When the cataract spontaneously fell back into the vitreous a year later, the patient could finally see.…”

Section: Eye Diseases and Treatmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When the cataract spontaneously fell back into the vitreous a year later, the patient could finally see. 3 …”

Section: Eye Diseases and Treatmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…183 But the popularization of planned cataract extraction in the modern era began with the presentation of Jacques Daviel in Paris in 1752. 3 …”

Section: Eye Diseases and Treatmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…81 The earliest identified surgeon to perform cataract extraction in the New World was Frederick William Jericho of Germany, who trained in Holland. 3 Based on the record in Europe, it appears that his initial cataract surgeries in the Caribbean must have been between 1771 and 1776. On his return to England in 1776, Jericho provided recommendations from Antigua, St. Kitts, and Montserrat 86 , 107 and noted, He also performed the operation of the Cataract on a negro girl; who immediately after could distinguish objects clearly, and in a fortnight’s time able to go abroad and about her business .…”

Section: Eye Diseases and Treatmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We present a review of some aspects of early North American ophthalmology not highlighted previously in the ophthalmology literature. 2 – 4 This review discusses the following: (1) Native American cultures, (2) particular eye ailments and treatments, and (3) surgeon biographies and early American universities. We define North America to include the areas of present-day Canada, the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Greenland.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ophthalmology in North America: Early Stories (1491-1801)

et al. 2017

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New World plants, such as tobacco, tomato, and chili, were held to have beneficial effects on the eyes. Indigenous healers rubbed or scraped the eyes or eyelids to treat inflammation, corneal opacities, and even eye irritation from smoke. European settlers used harsh treatments, such as bleeding and blistering, when the eyes were inflamed or had loss of vision with a normal appearance (gutta serena). In New Spain, surgery for corneal opacity was performed in 1601 and cataract couching in 1611. North American physicians knew of contralateral loss of vision after trauma or surgery (sympathetic ophthalmia), which they called “sympathy.” To date, the earliest identified cataract couching by a surgeon trained in the New World was performed in 1769 by John Bartlett of Rhode Island. The American Revolution negatively affected ophthalmology, as loyalist surgeons were expelled and others were consumed with wartime activities. After the war, cataract extraction was imported to America in earnest and academic development resumed. Charles F Bartlett, the son of John, performed cataract extraction but was also a “rapacious privateer.” In 1801, a doctor in the frontier territory of Kentucky observed anticholinergic poisoning by Datura stramonium (Jimsonweed) and suggested that this agent be applied topically to dilate the pupil before cataract extraction. John Warren at Harvard preferred couching in the 1790s, but, after his son returned from European training, recommended treating angle closure glaucoma by lens extraction. Other eye procedures described or advertised in America before the 19th century included enucleation, resection of conjunctival lesions or periocular tumors, treatment of lacrimal fistula, and fitting of prosthetic eyes.

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Section: Eye Diseases and Treatmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When the cataract spontaneously fell back into the vitreous a year later, the patient could finally see. 3 …”

Section: Eye Diseases and Treatmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…183 But the popularization of planned cataract extraction in the modern era began with the presentation of Jacques Daviel in Paris in 1752. 3 …”

Section: Eye Diseases and Treatmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Eye Diseases and Treatmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ophthalmology in North America: Early Stories (1491-1801)

et al. 2017

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The First Cataract Surgeons in the British Isles

Leffler

Schwartz

Peterson

et al. 2021

American Journal of Ophthalmology

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To describe the entry of cataract surgery into the British Isles. • METHODS: Handbills, books, and other historical sources were reviewed to determine when cataract surgery was first performed in the region. • RESULTS: Roman artifacts suggest that couching was performed in the British Isles in antiquity. Seemingly miraculous cures of blindness during the early Middle Ages might be consistent with couching. However, there is no strong evidence of medieval cataract surgery in the region. Cataract couching probably arrived in England by the 1560s, in Scotland by 1595, in Ireland by 1684, and in Anglo-America by 1751. Before the 18th century, cataract surgery was taught within families, apprenticeships, and mountebank troupes. Beginning in the 17th century, congenital cataract surgery permitted surgeons to tout their skills and to explore visual perception. However, in some cases, such as the couching of the 13-yearold Daniel Dolins by surgeon William Cheselden in 1727, whether the cataracts were truly congenital, and whether vision improved in any way, remain in doubt. Beginning in the 1720s, cataract surgery began to be performed by traditional surgeons in hospitals. However, for most of the century, the highest-volume cataract surgeons continued to be itinerant oculists, including those who performed cataract extraction in the latter half of the century. • CONCLUSIONS: Cataract surgery might have been performed in Roman Britain. Specific evidence of cataract surgery emerges in the region in the Elizabethan era. Cataract extraction was performed in the British Isles by 1753, but couching remained popular throughout the 18th century.

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The history of cataract surgery: from couching to phacoemulsification

et al. 2020

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Where and when cataract surgery started have been a mystery. Indian tradition and the Persian author Zarrin-Dast attributed the procedure to the Indians, while pseudo-Galen suggested an Egyptian origin. Certain idiosyncratic practices are common to early Greek and Sanskrit descriptions of cataract couching, e.g., the requirement for maturity of the cataract, the preference for patients of intermediate ages, comparison of some eyes to glass, rubbing the eye, having a wide portion of the couching instrument shaft, pars-plana puncture with avoidance of the vein, and immediate vision testing. In ancient Greece and India, the words describing the color of a healthy blue eye (glaukos and nīla, respectively) could also characterize a poorly-seeing eye not curable by surgery. In both regions, the lens (or pupillary region) was compared to a lentil, and colored entoptic phenomena were noted. The sitting posture of the patient, ocular convergence towards the nose, the more systematized integration of the humoral theory with cataract surgery, and possibly blowing on the eye and putting cotton on the eye are all consistent with an Indian origin for the procedure. On the other hand, the emphasis on surgical ambidexterity could suggest an origin close to the Mediterranean. Thus, the question of where cataract surgery started has not been resolved. Various authors have suggested that multiple types of cataract surgery were practiced in the ancient and medieval periods: (I) couching, (II) discission (division), (III) aspiration through a tube, (IV) extraction through a limbal incision, and (V) expulsion of lens remnants around an embedded probe. We review the evidence in favor (and against) each of these types of surgery.

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The first cataract surgeons in Anglo-America

Cited by 4 publications

References 8 publications

Ophthalmology in North America: Early Stories (1491-1801)

Ophthalmology in North America: Early Stories (1491-1801)

The First Cataract Surgeons in the British Isles

The history of cataract surgery: from couching to phacoemulsification

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