Posts tagged eyes

biomedicalephemera: Forms of iritis. Iritis is an inflammation of the iris - it can be caused by dozens of conditions and diseases, and can lead to serious vision loss or blindness. In chronic iritis (much less responsive to treatment than acute iritis, no matter what the primary cause), one of the treatments that sometimes has to be used is subconjunctival steroid injections. Ohhh yes. Eyeball injections. External Diseases of the Eye. Dr. Richard Greeff, 1914.

biomedicalephemera:

Forms of iritis.

Iritis is an inflammation of the iris - it can be caused by dozens of conditions and diseases, and can lead to serious vision loss or blindness. In chronic iritis (much less responsive to treatment than acute iritis, no matter what the primary cause), one of the treatments that sometimes has to be used is subconjunctival steroid injections. Ohhh yes. Eyeball injections.

External Diseases of the Eye. Dr. Richard Greeff, 1914.

Things I did not know could become dislocated: Eyeballs. From the Ball Ophthalmology Collection at the National Museum of Health and Medicine. 1898.

Things I did not know could become dislocated: Eyeballs.

From the Ball Ophthalmology Collection at the National Museum of Health and Medicine. 1898.

biomedicalephemera: Conjunctivitis gonorrhoica adultorum Gonorrhea can cause pose a risk to the newborn infant quite easily, especially when it’s contracted during childbirth and not caught until the eye is significantly pustular and weeping, but when gonorrheal infection manages to take hold in the adult eye, it’s often far more damaging, much more quickly than in the infant. The eye can begin producing an excess of clear tears in the morning, by noon have the lachrymation become turbid and milky, and by evening have a steady stream of pus coming from the eye. As you can see in this illustration, sometimes the entire cornea is broken down into pus by the gonococci, leaving the iris exposed, and precluding possibility of maintaining sight in the infected eye. The unaffected eye is covered by a watch-glass here, and surrounded by an adhesive bandage, to keep any gonococci from spreading over from the infected eye. Though they can easily establish themselves and do massive damage when entrenched in the body (such as in the eyes, or the mucous membranes of the genitalia), gonorrheal bacteria are very delicate and cannot infect across the skin, unless there’a  break or tear present.  Atlas of External Diseases of the Eye. Richard Greeff, 1914.

biomedicalephemera:

Conjunctivitis gonorrhoica adultorum

Gonorrhea can cause pose a risk to the newborn infant quite easily, especially when it’s contracted during childbirth and not caught until the eye is significantly pustular and weeping, but when gonorrheal infection manages to take hold in the adult eye, it’s often far more damaging, much more quickly than in the infant. The eye can begin producing an excess of clear tears in the morning, by noon have the lachrymation become turbid and milky, and by evening have a steady stream of pus coming from the eye.

As you can see in this illustration, sometimes the entire cornea is broken down into pus by the gonococci, leaving the iris exposed, and precluding possibility of maintaining sight in the infected eye. The unaffected eye is covered by a watch-glass here, and surrounded by an adhesive bandage, to keep any gonococci from spreading over from the infected eye. Though they can easily establish themselves and do massive damage when entrenched in the body (such as in the eyes, or the mucous membranes of the genitalia), gonorrheal bacteria are very delicate and cannot infect across the skin, unless there’a  break or tear present. 

Atlas of External Diseases of the Eye. Richard Greeff, 1914.

“But nature is always more subtle, more intricate, more elegant than what we are able to imagine.” - Carl Sagan (The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark)

Korean Hemorrhagic Fever (Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome - HFRS), aka Hantavirus

Hey, US readers, have a good Labor Day weekend? Go camping? Have a cook-out?

Statistically, the Labor Day holiday is by far the most popular time of year for families to go camping, and one of the most popular (and coveted) places to secure a reservation is Yosemite National Park cabins and “signature” tents. Unfortunately, this year, there’s been a bit of an outbreak of the Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in the Curry Village section of Yosemite. There have only been six recorded cases so far, but many more may have been missed, as it can imitate severe pneumonia, and other diseases that doctors are more familiar with. Luckily, it’s not communicable from person-to-person, but the deadliness of the disease and length of incubation (up to 6 weeks) has lead the CDC and US Parks Service to send out a mass warning to those who stayed in the park this summer.

——————

This isn’t the first time the US has had to cope with Hantavirus, though. In the Korean War (1950-1953), UN troops (largely the US military at that point), the first instances of Westerners becoming infected by this deadly infection were recorded.

As the virus is carried by deer and cotton mice and their close relatives, and those mice are keen to scavenge human scraps, there was much left-behind urine, feces, and saliva of those rodents in rather ill-equipped military encampments. These are the same family of mice that are suspected of spreading the virus in Yosemite.

However, in Korea, the most common pathological presentation of the virus was the “Hantavirus hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome”, or HFRS, which, while much more survivable than Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (8-15% mortality versus ~35% mortality rate, respectively), was debilitating, and ended up costing the UN hundreds of thousands of dollars in convalescence costs for soldiers. Even after the war, the search for the cause of the “Epidemic [Korean] Hemorrhagic Fever” took another two decades of research, before Ho-Wang Lee of South Korea discovered the species of Bunyavirus that caused both soldier and civilian infection throughout the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.

Even today, we don’t know of a cure for infection by Hantavirus, and can only provide supportive treatment to patients while their bodies defeat the disease on their own. The ability to support bodies coping with the renal syndrome has significantly improved, but the Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is as deadly as ever, especially the strains found in the United States. For an unknown reason, patients who contract the Sin Nombre (Four Corners) Virus seem to have a particularly difficult time developing antibodies against it in time to defeat the disease, despite generally being young and healthy.

Though the soldiers who fought across the globe over half a century ago may seem to be completely disparate from the kids and young parents camping in the national parks today, the outbreaks in their platoons are what sparked the search for the cause of a (generally rare) hemorrhagic fever that’s thought to have existed across the globe for centuries, and the discovery of the cause and vector of transmission will hopefully soon lead to an effective cure against the many forms the disease can take, saving the lives of people in impoverished countries and the wilderness of wealthy parts of the world alike.

Images -
Top: Non-fatal case of epidemic (Korean) hemorrhagic fever, showing extensive hemorrhage of the conjunctiva. Otis Archives, National Museum of Health & Medicine, 1950.
Bottom: Patient suffering from hemorrhagic syndrome. From the memoirs of Dwight Raymond Johnson, US Korean War medic, 1953.

So my brother and I were talking about eye muscles yesterday, and I was wondering if you could just explain how the muscles that control the eyelids work. Like how can we close our eyes so tightly? Thanks — Asked by dreamerlogic

I’m actually rather bad at gross anatomy, but these are the muscles that control the eyelids:

One of the primary reasons we can close our eyes so tightly is because of the action of the obicularis oculi, that circular muscle around the eyelids themselves. If you think about how tightly you can purse your lips, the same type of structure is up near your eyes, too. It allows the same action.

sutured-infection: McHardy’s Perimeter (used to test peripheral vision), from M. Stephen Mayou’s Diseases of the Eye, 1908 I hope I haven’t posted this before, but I just love old scientific/medical instruments. You can see two variations on this sort of tool over at my photostream, but this is my favorite one.

sutured-infection:

McHardy’s Perimeter (used to test peripheral vision), from M. Stephen Mayou’s Diseases of the Eye, 1908

I hope I haven’t posted this before, but I just love old scientific/medical instruments. You can see two variations on this sort of tool over at my photostream, but this is my favorite one.

sutured-infection

lunar-danse: Majimaganryonozu (undated)All the different flavours of pinkeye.

lunar-danse:

Majimaganryonozu (undated)
All the different flavours of pinkeye.

lunar-danse

“Engorgement hypertrophique et induration des follicules ciliaires” The ulceration caused by the hypertrophied swelling was cured by powder application, and the edema was drained. No radical surgery required. Several weeks recovery time. Iconographie Ophthalmologique. J. Sichel, 1858.

“Engorgement hypertrophique et induration des follicules ciliaires”

The ulceration caused by the hypertrophied swelling was cured by powder application, and the edema was drained. No radical surgery required. Several weeks recovery time.

Iconographie Ophthalmologique. J. Sichel, 1858.

You recently did some wartime injury posts for Armistice day - could you talk a bit about gas blindness? Particularly what recovery was like. I know tear and mustard gas caused blistering and was very painful. What treatements were available in WWI? How long would it roughly take for the victim to recover, what would the scar tissue look like, how long would it take for the pain to finally go away, etc.? Thank you so much. Love your blog! — Asked by fyodorpavlov

hey, I’ve been putting off answering this since I wanted to remember to do it, but after searching around for a few hours today, I can’t really find a whole lot regarding gas blindness (aside from the book that I posted from) that’s not written in german!

I know that it took about a week for minor/some moderate burns to regain full sight without pain, at least for mustard gas and other blister gasses. The asphyxiating gasses (like chlorine) didn’t cause much eye damage beyond tearing up, and the lachrymal gasses (the first gas weapons used in the war, by the French) mostly caused swelling and tearing, with pain only lasting a few days, even in severe cases. The blister gasses tended to be the most damaging, as the conjunctiva is susceptible to epithelial irritants.

This is the specific casualty history on the case that I posted:

mudwerks: mudwerks: (via Ophthalmodouleia, manuel d’ophtalmologie en 1583 | La boite verte) [ow…] [my eye feels like this today…] Dislocated eye!

mudwerks:

mudwerks:

(via Ophthalmodouleia, manuel d’ophtalmologie en 1583 | La boite verte)

[ow…]

[my eye feels like this today…]

Dislocated eye!

laboiteverte.fr

Cuvier Day extra plates - All illustrations from publications by Baron Georges Cuvier


Compound eyes of insects - though it was largely his younger brother who studied animal behavior and instinct, Georges Cuvier made extensive notes on the different ways that the insects he kept hunted or appeared to find food.

The differences in their eyes and legs and how those appeared to influence their hunting style/food type fascinated him. Though most of his hypotheses on why or how entomological anatomical features worked were incorrect (as hypotheses are apt to be), Cuvier’s insects kept him occupied for many a happy hour at the Academy, and honed his observational skills immensely.


Tumorific! Pterygium, staphyloma, scurrhius eye, and fistula lacrymalis figures, with suture diagrams. A General System of Surgery. Dr. Laurence Heister, 1745.

Tumorific!

Pterygium, staphyloma, scurrhius eye, and fistula lacrymalis figures, with suture diagrams.

A General System of Surgery. Dr. Laurence Heister, 1745.

Have you ever wondered why your nose runs when you cry or have bad allergies? Well, basal tears are constantly replenished over your cornea when you blink, and this fluid is constantly pooling into what’s known as the “lachrymal lake”, and running into your nose (through the nasolacrimal canal that connects the eye and nose) at a fairly slow rate. When the body produces reflex tears (like when you cut an onion, or put a jalapeno pepper in your eye) or psychic tears (from emotions), the same pathway is used. The lachrymal gland and conjunctiva produce additional tears, which run over the eyeball. While some overflow escapes the system and runs down the face, the rest goes through the nasolacrimal canal into the nose, just like any other tears. The fact that the eyes and nose are connected is also why some people can snort milk up their nose and squirt it out of their tear ducts. Not that I’m recommending you try this. Applied Surgical Anatomy, Regionally Presented. Dr. George Woosley, 1902.

Have you ever wondered why your nose runs when you cry or have bad allergies? Well, basal tears are constantly replenished over your cornea when you blink, and this fluid is constantly pooling into what’s known as the “lachrymal lake”, and running into your nose (through the nasolacrimal canal that connects the eye and nose) at a fairly slow rate.

When the body produces reflex tears (like when you cut an onion, or put a jalapeno pepper in your eye) or psychic tears (from emotions), the same pathway is used. The lachrymal gland and conjunctiva produce additional tears, which run over the eyeball. While some overflow escapes the system and runs down the face, the rest goes through the nasolacrimal canal into the nose, just like any other tears.

The fact that the eyes and nose are connected is also why some people can snort milk up their nose and squirt it out of their tear ducts. Not that I’m recommending you try this.

Applied Surgical Anatomy, Regionally Presented. Dr. George Woosley, 1902.

Forms of iritis. Iritis is an inflammation of the iris - it can be caused by dozens of conditions and diseases, and can lead to serious vision loss or blindness. In chronic iritis (much less responsive to treatment than acute iritis, no matter what the primary cause), one of the treatments that sometimes has to be used is subconjunctival steroid injections. Ohhh yes. Eyeball injections. External Diseases of the Eye. Dr. Richard Greeff, 1914.

Forms of iritis.

Iritis is an inflammation of the iris - it can be caused by dozens of conditions and diseases, and can lead to serious vision loss or blindness. In chronic iritis (much less responsive to treatment than acute iritis, no matter what the primary cause), one of the treatments that sometimes has to be used is subconjunctival steroid injections. Ohhh yes. Eyeball injections.

External Diseases of the Eye. Dr. Richard Greeff, 1914.