Notes on the electro-magnet in ophthalmology : with a report of nine cases / by Wm. Ellery Briggs.

  • Briggs, William Ellery.
Date:
[1889]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Notes on the electro-magnet in ophthalmology : with a report of nine cases / by Wm. Ellery Briggs. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

    1/6
    Reprinted from the Occidental Medical Times, August, 1889. NOTES ON THE ELECTRO-MAGNET IN OPHTHALMOLOGY, WITH A REPORT OF NINE CASES. By Wm. EllERY Briggs, M. D., Sacramento, Cal. Read before the Sacramento Society /or Medical Improvement. No recent advance in ophthalmic surgery surpasses in its bene- ficial results the use of the electro-magnet in those cases in which it is applicable. It is essentially a conservative procedure, often enabling the operator to save an eye that previous to Hirschberg's success in perfecting this instrument would have been enucleated, or have remained a dreaded source of sympatlietic ophthalmia. I believe that the magnet is used far less frequently than its un- doubted value demands. Practically, an error in the diagnosis of a penetrating foreign body is very rare, and even should the ope- rator fail to remove the extraneous substance the eye is not neces- sarily left in a much worse condition. With proper care and under antiseptic precautions there is, as a rule, but slight inflam- matory reaction following the introduction of the magnet, and the visual acuteness is not materially lessened. Should no foreign body be present, but little damage has been done, while if one remain, the indications for a more radical operation will soon be manifest. When we consider the aggregate number of suitable cases oc- curring, the reported operations are certainly meagre; and from this may in part arise the lack of a more general appreciation ol this invaluable instrument. For this reason I have concluded to publish the following cases upon which I have operated during the past eight years. Case I was reported to the California State Medical Society (Transactions 1881-82), and was the first case reported on the Pacific Coast. Cases II, III and IV were i-eported to the same Society (Transactions 1883-84). The remaining ones are now published for the first time. I regret that I have not preserved the records of two unsuccessful cases not included in the following: Case I.—M. A , blacksmith, residing in a neighboring town, while at work, felt that something had struck his right eye. A physi- cian who saw the case was unable to recognize the presence of a for- eign body. After four days, during which time the eye had been