Notes on the electro-magnet in ophthalmology : with a report of nine cases / by Wm. Ellery Briggs.
- Briggs, William Ellery
- Date:
- [1889]
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)
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![Case V.—]. O , a blacksmith, was examined one hour after injury. I found a large wound of the right cornea, implicat- ing the external portion of the ciliary region and the border of the iris. The lens was dislocated downwards. So much blood had escaped into the vitreous that it was impossible to see the fundus, and no foreign body could be detected. It was thought worth while to try to save the eye, and accordingly the electro-magnet was introduced through the wound made by the foreign body, but without success. Upon the second introduction the characteristic click was felt, and a large, irregular piece of steel was withdrawn, attached to the magnet. Atropine, cold applications and rest were ordered, and at the end of four weeks the patient was dis- charged, able to count fingers at fifteen feet. Later, however, the vision was lost from detachment of the retina. The eye has re- mained free from pain or irritability. Cases VI and VII.—These were two cases of unsuccessful attempts to extract steel from eyes in which there was every indi- cation of foreign bodies being present. In the first case I enucle- ated the eye, and found a small particle of steel in the fundus, at- tached to the sclerotic. In the second case the patient refused to have the eye enucleated, and soon after left Sacramento, so that I am unaware of the final result. Case VIII.—M. T , aet. 26, machinist, was struck in the left eye with a chip of steel on January 18, 1889. According to his statement, several oculists who had examined him were uncer- tain whether or not a foreign body were in the eye. When he consulted me, four days after the injury, there was considerable photophobia, a moderate degree of pain, and some conjunctival and pericorneal injection. A small corneal wound, which had healed, just below and external to the centre, could be seen. Atro- pine revealed some posterior synechia, and quite extensive injury to the lower half of the lens. I was unable to satisfy myself that there was a foreign body present, and the patient consulted Dr. Barkan, of San Francisco, who kindly wrote me that he was pretty certain that the foreign body was in the vitreous, close to the injured lens. I did not, therefore, longer hesitate to operate. An incision, under cocaine anesthesia, was made through the conjunctiva and sclerotic posterior, to the ciliary region, about midway between the external and inferior rectus muscles, and the point of the magnet connected with 20 Leclanch6 cells was introduced. Upon with- drawing the instrument, I was gratified to see a piece of steel caught in the wound, whence it was removed with the forceps. It was a nearly straight and even splinter, a little more than 4 mm. in length and i mm. in thickness. There was scarcely any inflam- matory reaction, and the symptoms which previously existed rapidly subsided. The visual field was good, but the lens was be- coming cataractous, with vision reduced to -^t^. It was thought](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2164598x_0005.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
