Herbert Wiesinger

AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE INFLUENCE OF VITAMIN C ON ALKALI CORNEAL BURNS AND CORNEAL SENSITIVITY1

Alkali burns of the eye and its adnexa have always been and, even with more modern methods of treatment, still are a problem in ophthalmology. A few years ago Hydrosulphosol captured our attention in that particular field because of the excellent clinical results reported by Kuhn. Experimental studies conducted by Narlay, however, could not show any superiority of this kind of treatment over the use of pure castor oil. Recently Nemec reported the local use of Ascorbic Acid in alkali burns of the human eye. He used local instillations of Vitamin C solutions and subconjunctival injections routinely in all his patients with fresh akali burns and claimed this method to be superior to other methods of treatment. Lyle and McLean, in 1941, reported rapid improvement in ten cases of corneal ulcer, keratitis, and chronic corneal opacities after intravenous and oral medication with Vitamin C. Since no experimental study could be found in the literature where Ascorbic Acid had been used subconjunctivally, we have conducted these experiments on rabbits to ascertain whether or not Ascorbic Acid employed locally is of value in the treatment of alkali burns of the cornea.