Case of cysticercus cellulosæ in the anterior chamber of the human eye.

  • Mackenzie, William, 1791-1868.
Date:
[1848]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Case of cysticercus cellulosæ in the anterior chamber of the human eye. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    capsular cataract through a puncture of the sclerotica.* Forceps are always objectionable as an instrument to be used within the eye, owing to the considerable incision required to allow the expansion of their blades before they can be made to seize anything. 5th. Had the patient been younger and not very staid, I should have put her under the influence of chloroform before proceeding to the operation. The result of Mr. Logan’s case, operated on by Dr. Eobertson, shows the danger to be apprehended from restlessness of the patient under similar circumstances. An incision of the cornea having been made in that case, no persuasion or threats could induce the patient, a girl of seven years of age, again to open the eye; she became perfectly unruly, and the muscles compressed the eye so powerfully, that the crystalline lens was forced out and the hydatid ruptured.f 6th. Some of my friends hinted that I was rather preci- pitate in operating on Elizabeth Gordon, and that I might safely have allowed so curious an object as a living cysticercus in the eye to remain for a time, for the examination of those who felt an interest in the natural as well as pathological history of the entozoa. A reference to Mr. Canton’s case will serve as my vindication. The eye in this case inflamed in consequence of the presence of the hydatid, the cornea became semi-opaque and vascular, so that the iris was hid from view, the diameter and prominence of the cornea were abnormally increased, and the patient, a boy about ten years of age, suffered almost constant pain and lost flesh during the progress of these symptoms. The cysticercus was extracted, but the eye was not thereby saved from further disorganization. Twice did the cornea again require to be opened, to give exit to the disorganized contents of the eyeball.j; It should be added, that the patient applied too late to afford an opportunity of saving the eye. * J. H. Freytag de Catarrhacta, in Haller’s Disp. Chir., vol. ii. f Jones’s Manual of the Principles and Practice of Ophthalmic Medi- cine and Surgery, p. 216. London, 1847. \ Lancet, July 22d, 1848.