David O. Harrington

Bilateral Absorption of Intraocular Copper with Chalcosis in One Eye

The child whose case is reported here was found to have particles of copper in both eyes after the explosion of percussion caps. Due perhaps to the low content of copper in the metal of the caps, spontaneous absorption of the foreign bodies in both eyes was not accompanied by the destructive changes usually observed in such cases. One eye demonstrated the phenomenon of chalcosis; this eye (left) retained normal vision for eight years after the accident. From the Department of Surgery, Division of Ophthalmology, University of California Medical School. Read before the Western Ophthalmological Society at Butte, Montana, July 19, 1934.

Intracranial Sarcoidosis with Optic Tract and Temporal Lobe Involvement

Intracranial sarcoidosis was diagnosed in a 23-year-old man when he developed a markedly incongruous right homonymous hemianopic visual field defect. The diagnosis was substantiated by radiologic evidence of bilateral hilar and paratracheal adenopathy, typical of pulmonary sarcoidosis. Subsequently, computed axial tomography indicated a large intracranial lesion in the suprasellar cistern with extension into the left temporal lobe along the optic tract. A mediastinal biopsy of the lymph nodes was positive for sarcoid. Intensive corticosteroid therapy resulted in restoration of vision, marked improvement of the visual field defect, decrease in the pulmonary hilar adenopathy, and almost complete resolution of the left temporal lobe lesion.

Mechanics of intracapsular cataract extraction.

THERE can be little controversy among modern ophthalmic surgeons regarding the advantages and desirability of the intracapsular method of cataract extraction. As Arnold Knapp 1 has pointed out in his classic paper: The amount of literature that has arisen on the subject of the intracapsular extraction is bewildering, but some general direction can be recognized. The trend seems to be in favor of an operation in which a firm hold is taken of the capsule with the forceps without tearing it, concentrating the traction to one area and with a hook or similar instrument exerting pressure externally at the lower corneal margin, in order to raise vitreous pressure and to rupture the suspensory ligament at that point.... After subluxation of the cataract, the extraction is completed with the aid of external pressure, by tumbling or by head-first delivery. Knapp and numerous others have fully reviewed the advantages of intracapsular cataract

The Art of Perimetry

There is no single method of perimetric examination which is applicable to all types of visual field defects. Perimetry is a subjective psychophysical sensory examination. It is not an exact science unless one includes the objective measurement of visual evoked response in the optic cortex. Until such a method becomes clinically available it will be necessary for the perimetrist to determine which techniques to use in a given case and to apply these techniques with sympathetic understanding. This is the art of perimetry.

Epinephrine Bitartrate: Uses Other than in the Treatment of Glaucoma

The authors have found this drug effective as a mydriatic when examining the fundus in border-line cases of increased intraocular tension, also in cases of glaucoma under miotics; as a powerful mydriatic for breaking up posterior synechiae in old cases of iritis, and preparatory to operation for congenital soft cataract; also as a successful hemostatic in various operations in which a dry field is essential. From the Division of Ophthalmology, Department of Surgery, University of California Medical School.