One hundred years of retinal detachment surgery

One hundred years ago this year a major conflict was being fought in France on the banks of the river Somme, which some historians argue was the turning point of the World War I.1 As that battle was raging some thousands of miles to the south, in the small town of Lausanne in Switzerland another turning point was occurring not in a geopolitical context but one which would bring credit to mankind; the Gonin method to repair retinal detachments (figure 1). Retinal detachments had been recognised prior to the invention of the ophthalmoscope in 1851, but more often had been included in that undifferentiated clinical grouping known as secondary amaurosis; essentially an eye that has become blind without any obvious clinical signs. Equally, the pathology was not understood except to note that the retina was separated from the choroid, and commonly was referred to as...
Source: British Journal of Ophthalmology - Category: Opthalmology Authors: Tags: Retina, Vision, Neurology Editorials Source Type: research