Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-11-20
MODERN SURGERY
8 New Operation for Restoring Sight De.
Icribt d-A Rev rriumEh.

1
London Hospital.
Among the matters of interest which
were brought before the British Medical
ical Association at tbs recent Glasgow
meeting was sn account Of Mr.. Brsdnell
Carter Of 5 method which he had devised
for opening the sheath of the optic nerve
behind the eye for the relief OF pressure
within The cavity OF the ekull. TIE brain
is invested By firm membranes, which &C.
crete certsin amount OF fluid, and are
continued down to the eye In the form OF 9
sheath which surrounds the optic
nerve; and whenever ths pressure
within tie cavity of the skull is
Increased, as By the growth OF
orxin-tumor, or even BY excess Of secre
ton from the membranes themselves, q
supeT-aburdsuce OF fluid is apt TO find It's
wSy down the nerve Sheath to the level
OF The eye, &c subject the optic nerve to
irj uriCus pressure, sld n many cases to
destroy the sight
l: not intrequently happens that the
pressure within the brain csvlty may be
increased By temporary or durable causes,
which, neVertheless, continue In action
sufficiently long to produce permanent
blindness even although the patient may
in other respects recover In view Of
these conditions IL WAS suggested By DR..
&c Wecker, of Paris, sixteen or seventeen
years ago, that 1t nigh. be possible to
open the optic.nerVe sheath, and taus
not only to relieve the nerve from pres
sure and to preserve it from il Jury, out
slss, on account of the position OF the
eye relatively to the brain cavity, TO drain
the latter By gr&Vitstlon, ana 10 relieve
the brain IS well So the eye. DR.. de
Wecke msdetwO endesvofs to accomplish
this obi ct; but he tried TO feel his way
to the optic nerve without the aid OF
sight, and to inCise the sheath by means
OF an instrument carrying 9 concesled
knife, cspable CT being projected by
means OF epiiDg. The risks Of fsilure,
and still more the risks CT irfic,ipg ire
parable Il lry upon the nerysr were such
that he on!y attempted his operation n
two we'll nigh hopeless cas=s, and only
one attempt 20 follow his example mas
been recorded.
M. Csrter's attention WAS called to the
matter last year By case in which the
diminutton Of pressure within the optic
nerve-sheath WAS manifestlY desirable;
and he devised & method Of operating by
which the sheath could be exposed to
view, and the object attained with Ger
tAiRty under the guidance OF sight St
every step Of the process. He reai before
the Medical S Jciety CT L 1ndon last year
an account OF the htst case In which he
operated, which was successful; and ne
read sr sccoun. Of three more cases at
Glasgow, in one CT which the result Was
negative as fsI ss sigh. WAS concerned,
while in the other two the patients were
not only quickly restored to useful vision
in QUE instEnce from complete, In tie
other from neNl7 complete, blindness
but were also relieved CT cured Of other
sympto rs, such IS headache and eicknees,
arising from direct pressure on tbs brain
Ia his paper st Glasgow, Nj. Carter
clsimed for the neR operation that II
could be performed with certainty, aud
without risk either to life or any impor-
tsnt structure, and that 1t afforded :
reasonable prospect OF the preservation
of sight in many forms Of disease II
which i: Is now hsbitually CT frequently
lost. AS IN the case Of every new opera
ton, time and further experience o. rs
effects are required in order to determine
the precise limits of Its usefulness. In
the discussion which followed the paper,
Mr.. BickeTspn OF Liverpool said that, in
consequence Of reading the account Of
Mr.. Carter's fret case, he had himself
performed the operation In two instances,
in one OF which temporary restoration Of
sight was followed By relapse, while in
the second the ultimste Issue wss favor
sh