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Harry H. Mark, MD, FACS

Arch Ophthalmol. 2003;121:266-268.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

INTRODUCTION

The invention of iridotomy by William Cheselden in 1727 was the first intraocular operation after the ancient technique of couching for cataracts, and was thus a turning point in ophthalmic history. Whereas cataract barber-surgeons entered the eye blindly without accurate knowledge of its anatomy or the actual mechanism of the surgery, the iridotomy was done under direct visual guidance, with true awareness of the ill it was supposed to cure, and the reason for its effect. In today's spectrum of ocular diseases, it may be hard to appreciate the enormous blessing of an optical iridotomy, but at the beginning of the 18th century it was the second most frequently performed procedure for the restoration of vision to the blind.

The history of iridotomy is thus of some import to ophthalmologists in general, and to ophthalmic historians in particular. These historians often begin by looking to . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Dr Mark is in private practice in New Haven, Conn.