Ophthalmology is a clinical and surgical specialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. A former term is oculism.
Eye surgery, also known as ophthalmic surgery or ocular surgery, is surgery performed on the eye or its adnexa. Eye surgery is part of ophthalmology and is performed by an ophthalmologist or eye surgeon. The eye is a fragile organ, and requires due care before, during, and after a surgical procedure to minimize or prevent further damage. An eye surgeon is responsible for selecting the appropriate surgical procedure for the patient, and for taking the necessary safety precautions. Mentions of eye surgery can be found in several ancient texts dating back as early as 1800 BC, with cataract treatment starting in the fifth century BC. It continues to be a widely practiced class of surgery, with various techniques having been developed for treating eye problems.
Charles David Kelman was an American ophthalmologist, surgeon, inventor, jazz musician, entertainer, and Broadway producer. Known as the father of phacoemulsification, he developed many of the medical devices, instruments, implant lenses and techniques used in cataract surgery. In the early 1960s, he began the use of cryosurgery to remove cataracts and repair retinal detachments. Cryosurgery for cataracts remained in heavy use until 1978, when phacoemulsification, a procedure Kelman also developed in 1967, became the modern standard treatment. Kelman was given the National Medal of Technology by President George H. W. Bush and recognized as the Ophthalmologist of the Century by the International Congress of Cataract and Refractive Surgery in Montreal, Canada. He was also inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio, and received the 2004 Lasker Award.
Aphakia is the absence of the lens of the eye, due to surgical removal, such as in cataract surgery, a perforating wound or ulcer, or congenital anomaly. It causes a loss of ability to maintain focus (accommodation), high degree of farsightedness (hyperopia), and a deep anterior chamber. Complications include detachment of the vitreous or retina, and glaucoma.
Ophthalmology was one of the foremost branches in medieval Islamic medicine. The oculist or kahhal (کحال), a somewhat despised professional in Galen’s time, was an honored member of the medical profession by the Abbasid period, occupying a unique place in royal households. Medieval Islamic scientists considered it normal to combine theory and practice, including the crafting of precise instruments, and therefore found it natural to combine the study of the eye with the practical application of that knowledge. The specialized instruments used in their operations ran into scores. Innovations such as the “injection syringe”, a hollow needle, invented by Ammar ibn Ali of Mosul, which was used for the extraction by suction of soft cataracts, were quite common.
Sankara Nethralaya is a non-profit missionary institution for ophthalmic care headquartered in Chennai, India. In the name "Sankara Nethralaya", "Sankara" is a reference to Lord Shiva and "Nethralaya" means "The Temple of the Eye". Sankara Nethralaya has over 1000 employees and serves around 1500 patients per day, performing over 100 surgeries daily. The annual revenue as per the taxes is close to US$100 million.
An eye care professional is an individual who provides a service related to the eyes or vision. It is any healthcare worker involved in eye care, from one with a small amount of post-secondary training to practitioners with a doctoral level of education.
Chevalier John Taylor was an early British eye surgeon, self-promoter and medical charlatan of 18th-century Europe. He was noted by Samuel Johnson, and associated with the surgical mistreatment of George Frideric Handel, Johann Sebastian Bach, and perhaps hundreds of others.
Iridodialysis is a localized separation or tearing away of the iris from its attachment to the ciliary body.
An ocular prosthesis, artificial eye or glass eye is a type of craniofacial prosthesis that replaces an absent natural eye following an enucleation, evisceration, or orbital exenteration. The prosthesis fits over an orbital implant and under the eyelids. Though often referred to as a glass eye, the ocular prosthesis roughly takes the shape of a convex shell and is made of medical grade plastic acrylic. A few ocular prostheses today are made of cryolite glass. A variant of the ocular prosthesis is a very thin hard shell known as a scleral shell which can be worn over a damaged or eviscerated eye. Makers of ocular prosthetics are known as ocularists. An ocular prosthesis does not provide vision; this would be a visual prosthesis. Someone with an ocular prosthesis is altogether blind on the affected side and has monocular vision.
Joseph Barth was a Maltese-born Austrian ophthalmologist. He is believed to have been the first professor of ophthalmology.
Zeynel A. Karcioglu is a medical and surgical practitioner, researcher and medical educator. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Ophthalmology, specializing in Ophthalmic Oncology and Pathology particularly in areas of retinoblastoma, external eye tumors, and primary and metastatic orbital neoplasms. Karcioglu is also residency and fellowship trained in Anatomic Pathology and Neuropathology and certified by the American Board of Pathology.
Gholam A. Peyman is an Iranian American ophthalmologist, retina surgeon, and inventor. He is best known for his invention of LASIK eye surgery, a vision correction procedure designed to allow people to see clearly without glasses. He was awarded the first US patent for the procedure in 1989.
James Ware (1756–1815) was an English eye surgeon, and Fellow of the Royal Society, who practiced in London during the Georgian era. He is considered one of the founding fathers of modern ophthalmology in Britain.
Gerard Sutton is an Australian ophthalmic surgeon and ophthalmologist in Australia and New Zealand. His specialty is laser vision correction, cataract and lens surgery, and corneal transplantation.
Alexander Dimitry was a mixed race Louisiana Creole of partial Greek descent. He was the first state superintendent of public instruction in Louisiana, an author, diplomat, educator, journalist, lawyer, orator, and publicist. He spoke eleven languages. He was the first person of color to represent the United States as Ambassador to Costa Rica and Nicaragua. He was also one of the few people of color to serve in the bureaucracy of the Confederate Government. He was the first person of color to attend Georgetown University. Alexander's family passed as white and witnessed countless incidents of racism. Two major incidents involving his family were documented in court entitled Forstall, f.p.c. v. Dimitry (1833) and Pandelly v. Wiltz (1854). Throughout his entire life, Alexander underwent constant persecution and was always reminded of his skin color and ethnic background.
Jeewan Singh Titiyal is an Indian ophthalmologist, credited with the first live cornea transplant surgery by an Indian doctor. He was honoured by the Government of India, in 2014, by bestowing on him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his services to the field of medicine.
Keiki R. Mehta, an Indian ophthalmologist, medical researcher and writer, is considered by many as the father of Phacoemulsification in India. He is the Chief Surgical and Medical Director at Mehta International Eye Institute, a Mumbai-based specialty eye hospital founded by him. He is known to be the first surgeon to perform a Radial keratotomy in India and is credited with the development of the first soft eye implant in the world, and the Keiki Mehta BP Valve Glaucoma Shunt, a medical implant used in the treatment of neovascular‚ congenital and uveitic glaucoma. He is a recipient of several honours including the Grand Honors Award of the National Eye Research Foundation, Chicago and the Triple Ribbon Award of the American Society for Cataract and Refractive Surgery. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2008, for his contributions to Medicine.
Cataract surgery has a long history in Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is one of the most common and successful surgical procedures in worldwide use, thanks to improvements in techniques for cataract removal and developments in intraocular lens (IOL) replacement technology, in implantation techniques, and in IOL design, construction, and selection. Surgical techniques that have contributed to this success include microsurgery, viscoelastics, and phacoemulsification.
