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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    leading to liquefaction or to the formation of fibrillar, flake-like opacities. As the vitreous possesses a feel)ler 'I’cgenerative power than any other tissue in the body, the slightest escape of vitreous humor through a traumatic or operative wound, or any interference witli its structure by the introduction of instruments, is likely to produce opacity and separation of the retina. The suppuration caused by the entrance of a foreign body deserves special mention. What has been said in this connection about injuries of the sclera may be sup- plemented by the following : A foreign body vdiich ])ene- trates as far as the vitreous and retina is more likely to enter through the cornea than through the sclera; it may pass through the iris and the lens (Plate 36, h), or through the lens only, and sink to the bottom or continue its flight to the retina, depending upon the amount of momentum it has acquired. Having reached the retina the intruder either buries itself in its tissues or recoils and lodges some- where in the lower anterior part of the vitreous, where it cannot well be detected even with the ophthalmoscope, so that its presence has to be inferred from the lesion in the retina. If traumatic cataract develops, detection is even mon* difficult, although its probable course can be approximately determined by the position of the wound in the coi’uea, iris, and lens. [The Rontgen rays may always be utilized to locate foreign bodies within the eyeball.—Ed.] If the wound remains aseptic, the piece of iron can usually be extracted by means of tlie large electromagnet (see p. 175), which may also be utilized to determine the nature of the foreign body. Unfortunately, however, such ]>articles of iron usually set up a violent suppurative inflammation, which results either in suppuration of the vitreous (Plate 35, «) or in panophthalmitis (Plate 35, b). This is par- ticularly the case when the particle of iron is derived from a hoe or similar digging tool. Panophthalmitis may declare itself within forty-eight hours. The infec- tion is probably carried by the substance itself, since