The institute's clinical faculty treats more than 250,000 patients annually,[2] provides 24-hour emergency care, and is the only community-based ophthalmic care center for indigent and low-income patients of Miami-Dade County.
History
Ophthalmology at the University of Miami School of Medicine began in 1955 and attained departmental status in 1959.[3]
The Bascom Palmer Eye Institute's founding five physicians, including Norton, Victor Curtin, the first faculty member, who was hired in 1959 and established the institute's pathology laboratory and its eye bank,[5] which has provided ophthalmologists with donor eye tissue for more than 30,000 patients since its 1962 founding,[6] J. Lawton Smith, a neuro-ophthalmologist, who created the nation's first post-graduate neuro-ophthalmology course,[7]J. Donald M. Gass, a macular degeneration specialist who developed fluorescein angiography as a diagnostic tool,[8] and John T. Flynn, a pediatric ophthalmologist who established the institute's Children's Clinic. The institute was officially opened on January 20, 1962.[9]
John Clarkson, a vitreoretinal specialist and surgeon, succeeded Norton in 1991 and chaired the institute until 1996.[10]
Eduardo C. Alfonso, a cornea and external disease specialist, is Bascom Palmer Eye Institute's present chairman and has served in that capacity since June 2009.[11]
Medical firsts
In 1965, Bascom Palmer physicians Noble J. David, J. Lawton Smith, Edward W. D. Norton, J. Donald M. Gass, and medical photographer Johnny Justice, Jr. pioneered the use of fluoresceinangiography for the diagnosis of macular and retinal diseases, which led to the accurate description and effective treatment of retinal disorders.[12]
In 1971, Bascom Palmer research investigators established the clinical value of vitrectomy (removal of the vitreous humor) to treat retinal detachments, diabetic retinopathy, infectious diseases of the eye, and severe ocular trauma.[13]
In 1989, in a successful effort to restore the vitality to ocular mucous membranes, Bascom Palmer faculty introduced limbal stem cell transplantation therapy, which now can prevent potentially blinding corneal scarring.[14] Also in 1989, Bascom Palmer researchers identified the herpes virus as the cause of acute retinal necrosis, a devastating infection of the retina often caused by HIV/AIDS.[15]
In 1995, Bascom Palmer faculty member Robert H. Machemer conducted the first successful vitreous surgery and invented the miniature surgical instrumentation used in this procedure.[16]
In 2009, Bascom Palmer surgeons performed the first modified osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis surgery in the United States, restoring vision to a woman who had been blind for nine years. The procedure involved several surgeries culminating with implanting her tooth in her eye as a base to hold a prosthetic lens.[18][19]
In 2020, U.S. News & World Report ranked Bascom Palmer Eye Institute the best ophthalmology hospital and research center in the United States for the 17th consecutive year and 19th year overall since the institute's 1962 founding.[21]
↑ Lewis, ML; Culbertson, WW; Post, JD; Miller, D; Kokame, GT; Dix, RD (1989). "Herpes simplex virus type 1. A cause of the acute retinal necrosis syndrome". Ophthalmology. 96 (6): 875–8. doi:10.1016/S0161-6420(89)32823-5. PMID2544841.
↑ Macherner, Robert (1995). "The development of pars plana vitrectomy: a personal account". Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology. 233 (8): 453–68. doi:10.1007/BF00183425. PMID8537019.
↑ Steinbrook, Robert (2006). "The Price of Sight — Ranibizumab, Bevacizumab, and the Treatment of Macular Degeneration". New England Journal of Medicine. 355 (14): 1409–12. doi:10.1056/NEJMp068185. PMID17021315.
↑ Sawatari, Yoh; Perez, Victor L.; Parel, Jean-Marie; Alfonso, Eduardo; Falcinelli, Giancarlo; Falcinelli, Johnny; Marx, Robert E. (2011). "Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons' Role in the First Successful Modified Osteo-Odonto-Keratoprosthesis Performed in the United States". Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. 69 (6): 1750–6. doi:10.1016/j.joms.2010.07.055. PMID21211883.
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