Congenital cataract, with imperfect development of the lenses / by William Walker.

  • Walker, William (Surgeon)
Date:
1850
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Congenital cataract, with imperfect development of the lenses / by William Walker. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

    1/4
    CONGENITAL CATARACT, WITH IMPERFECT DEVELOPMENT OF THE LENSES. BY WILLIAM WALKER, SURGEON TO THE EYE DISPENSARY OF EDINBURGH. [from THE MONTHLY JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCE, APRIL 1850.] Congenital cataract is a disease not unfrequently met with ; but congenital cataract, presenting the peculiar condition of the lenses, which I am about to describe in the following cases, is, I think, rare; at least, in the course of my reading, I do not recollect to have seen it mentioned; and I have, in my practice, met with only two cases of it. Case I.—Mr F. Q. W., get. 20, tall, thin, and delicate-looking, consulted me in January 1849 for an affection of his eyes. His general health had never been robust, and he had been subject for several years to frequent pains in his chest. On examination, I found that there was a large prominence on the left side of the sternum, distinct hypertrophy of the heart, some trace of former pericar- ditis, and a phosphatic deposit in some of the joints. When eight years of age, he received, on the left supra-orbital region, a severe blow from a stone, which cut through the upj)er eyelid. When twelve, some gunpowder exploded in his face, but merely singed his hair and eyebrows. At ten years of age, his sight, with both eyes, was observed to be very much impaired,—as much so, indeed, as it was when I saw him; at the same time, both irides were discovered to be very tremulous. He could read with comparative ease at a distance of five inches; but with the left eye he frequently saw two objects at the same time, the false object being always towards the left side ; and when the object looked at was a book, it was the false page which he read. Black spots and wavy lines appeared to be constantly floating in the field of vision, accompanied at times with dull red, orange, and greyish-white spots ; when the sun was briglit, he saw all the prismatic colours as if falling from it in short curved lines; when reading, there appeared to be a constant dull mist between his eyes and the book, and in a short time the eyes became much fa- tigued. Convex glasses rendered the vision worse ; but with a No. 10 concave, he saw a little clearer with the left eye ; while, to produce the same effect on the right eye, he required a No. 12; neither, however, improved vision very much. EDINBURGH : SUTHERLAND AND KNOX.