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The word 'cataract' comes from the Greek word for 'waterfall'. It was thought that a cataract was formed by opaque material flowing, like a waterfall, into the eye. Sir Harold Ridley, a British Ophthalmologist, implanted the first intraocular lens (IOL) in London, in 1949, after observing that World War II British fighter pilots could tolerate shards of plastic aircraft canopies in their eyes. His work was initially rejected by most of the medical community in Europe and the United States, as it was thought that this new procedure might be dangerous and could lead to complications.
Iol lens implant Primitive "cures" - Throughout recorded history, various concoctions and eye drops were reputed to "cure" cataracts. Reportedly, physicians in the ancient civilizations of Babylon and India were the first to use sharp instruments to go inside the eye and push away the hard, cloudy lens letting it fall to the bottom of the eye. This primitive surgery was called couching. However, leaving the clouded lens in the eye often resulted in severe inflammation and eventual blindness. For hundreds of years couching was the only treatment for cataracts. Advances in cataract surgery were made around 1700, when surgeons made an incision in the eye and removed the lens instead of pushing it aside. / Contact / Site Map / Our People / Eye Conditions / Links / Cataracts / The Eye Explained / News
Page last updated on Saturday, 25 June 2005 12:36:21 Site designed and edited by Web Designer |
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Highgate Ophthalmic Practice
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Dr
Ridley persevered with the operation and helped in the development of better
plastic lenses to implant in the eye.