Atlas of the external diseases of the eye : including a brief treatise on the pathology and treatment / by O. Haab ; Authorized translation from the German, edited by G.E. de Schweinitz.

  • Haab O. (Otto), 1850-1931.
Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Atlas of the external diseases of the eye : including a brief treatise on the pathology and treatment / by O. Haab ; Authorized translation from the German, edited by G.E. de Schweinitz. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    is observed as a (I) simple marginal irritation, to be dis- cussed later; (2) the excavated or funnel-shaped ulcer; (3) fascicular keratitis; (4) phlyctenular (eczematous) marginal pannus; and (5) marginal ring-ulcer (annular ulcer). Eczema of the conjunctiva causes little discomfort, as the general appearance of the ])atient shows; he usually seeks relief for a sliglit stinging-j)ain during the eruptive stage and the feeling as if the eye contained a foreign body; occasionally the lids arc glued together in the morning. The diagnosis is readily made if it is borne in mind that eczema preferably attacks young subjects, while car- cinoma, which in its initial stage resembles an eczema- pustule and also begins at the corneal margin, occurs oidy in elderly j)ersons. Another fundamental diiference is, that carcinomatous nodules never undergo the rapid de- generation which puts a speedy end to the life of an eczema- pustule. Cancer dis])lays the general characters of a solid growth, and ulceration, if it occurs at all, is delayed a much longer time. Nevertheless I have seen several cases of carcinoma which were at first diagnosed and treated as eczema by the family physician, and the loss of precious time occasioned by this error led to a fatal termination. Scleritis, which is characterized by the formation of flat, circular elevations from 3 to 5 mm. in diameter, may in its initial stage be confounded with eczema. An old case of scleritis can be recognized by the slate-colored tint of the sclera remaining from an earlier attack, while in recent cases the diagnosis is established by observing that the epithelial covering of the nodules is intact and does not undergo necrotic change. The scleritic focus, moreover, is surrounded by a bluish injection, while in eczema the congestion is of the conjunctival type and is more super- ficial. Finally, there is much more jiain, both spontane- ous and on pressure, in scleritis. A superficial observer might mistake a case of marginal eczema of the conjunctiva for sprinff-conjimctivitis; but