A handbook of the diseases of the eye and their treatment / by Henry R. Swanzy.

  • Swanzy, Henry R. (Henry Rosborough), Sir, 1844-1913.
Date:
1890
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A handbook of the diseases of the eye and their treatment / by Henry R. Swanzy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    119/556 page 99
    4. A clean-cut ulcer may form at the margin of the cornea without any purulent infiltration of the corneal tissue, and may also extend a long way round the cornea. Such ulcers are particularly apt to occur where there is much chemosis which overlaps the margin of the cornea; and, being hidden in this way, these ulcers are easily overlooked. The chemosis should be pushed aside with a probe, and these peculiar ulcers looked for. They are very liable to perforate. All the foregoing forms of corneal complication occur both in ophthalmia neonatorum, and in gonorrhoeal ophthalmia. They may appear at any period of the affection, but the earlier they occur, the more likely are they to result seriously. The danger of these ulcers consists in the perforation of the cornea they are apt to produce, of which more later on. The severer the case, especially the more the bulbar con- junctiva is involved in the process, the more likely is it that corneal complications will arise. For the corneal process is to be regarded as the result of infection by the conjunctiva] secretion ; and this infection is all the more apt to occur, where the nutrition of the cornea is impeded by a dense chemotic swelling of the bulbar conjunctiva. Severe chemosis is less common in the blennorrhoea of the new-born than in gonorrhoeal ophthalmia, and this is the chief reason for the fact that the latter is the more dangerous affection of the two. Treatment.—prophylaxis of purulent ophthalmia must here first engage our attention. The prophylaxis of blennorrhoea neonatorum is a most im- portant matter, and should form part of the routine of lying-in practice. Careful disinfection of the vagina before and during birth, and the most minute care in cleansing the face and eyes of the infant immediately after birth with a non-irritating disinfectant {e.cj. a solution of corrosive sublimate 1 in 5,000), are to be recommended. The method of Dr. Cred6 has found very general acceptance, and is a good one. It is as follows :—
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