Evening star., 1937-06-08
LATEST SURGERY
RESTORES FACES
Dr.. R. E. Moran of Washing.
ton Tells Medical AS
ISOLATION of Miracles.
BY THOMAS 4. HENRY,
Naf5 CORRESPONDENT Of The Star.


ATLANTIC CITY, June s.-Weird-
~ distorted human faces are being
restored to normal by two entirely
new surgical operations, results OF
which were shown at the meeting OF
the American Medical Association
here today by Dr. Robert e. Moran,
Washington surgeon.
These operations are for the cor
rection Of 'pop-eyes' and sunken eyes,
both OF which give the victim 4
grotesque appearance.
Protruding. wildly staring eyes,
which usually result from 4 soitre
due to hyper-Activity OF the thyroid
gland, sometimes remain through the
life Of the victim after the original
cause has been removed by 4 sue
cessful gland operation. The individ-
ual is dishgured, and hitherto very
little could be done about it.
Discovered In Principle u Physics.
Dr.. Moran, In devising this treat
nent. went back to first causes and
Is offering q new explanation OF how
. swelling In the neck can cause the
eyes to pop out. He found 1t in a
principle of physics FIRST promulgated
BY the French mathematician, Pas
CAL more than 800 years ago-that
pressure exerted on liquid In a closed
chamber is exerted equally In all di-
rections Now, he points out, the
chamber OF the eye Is essentially 4
closed chamber, Of which the eye ball
constitutes the front wall. The place
OF the liquid u taken by the fatty
substance which nils the space be-
tween the eye ball and the thin, bony
wall-part Of the skull-in the rear.
Normally. he points out, the eye is
held in place because the pressure Of
the air on the outside and of the fat
on the inside is almost exactly equal
and opposite. When the thyroid is
oversecreting, he says, 1t stimulates
the nerves activating the eye muscles.
The first thing that happens is that
the upper eyelid is pulled back, re-
sulting in a wild stare, which makes
4 person look as il in mortal terror.
AS this continues the pressure inside
the eye cavities is increased. There
Is no give" to the bony wall In the
rear. The eye itself is the weak part
OF the chamber walls and as the pres
sure IS Increased 1t looks as II 1t were
about to shoot out Of the head.
Some Cures Permanent.
Often this is completely and per-
manently cured by the thyroid opera
ton, but sometimes local conditions
OF pressure have been set up by the
stresses and strains OF the muscles
30 that the pop-eyes continue. DR..
Moran showed striking photographs
OF two Washingtonians both before
and after the new operation-a deli
cate procedure, which involves cut
ting away bone to enlarge the orbital
chamber. The operation, requiring
fne technique because of the nerve
and muscle involvements, was devised
Jointly by Dr. Moran and DR.. Shugrue
OF the Georgetown faculty. The eye
cavity is entered by an incision
through the tone Of the skull be-
tween the eye and the ear. BY the
enlargement OF the ccH.y pressn
between the outside air End the in
side liquid" is again equalized.
Sunken eyes, on the contrary, are
due to some injury which results in
the sinking, or "buckling," of the
floor OF the eye orbit. The condition
Is quite disfiguring. The new opera :
ton devised by Dr. Moran consists In
transplanting narrow strips OF car
tilage between the bony floor Of the
eye orbit and the tough, fibrous men,
brane which lies over it. The opera =
ton, Dr. Moran explained. is per-
formed In two stages about five weeks
apart. 1t results in pushing the eye
ball forward into normal position.
new operation for which the con-
dltion which often follows pneumonia.
known as empyema. was demonstrated
by Drs. Charles S. White and ]. Llovd
Collins of George Washington Uni
versity Medical School. This opera :
ton, their statistics show, Is reducing
the death rate from this ailment
nearly so per cent and is, roughly,
cutting in half the time which the
patient must remain in q hospital.
II Per Cent Death Rate.
There have been 3o3 cases of en-
pyema in all the Washington hospitals
IN the past five years with \ death
rate, following other treatments of
approximately II per cent. The condi-
ton Is one in which pus gathers in
the chest cavity. which causes high
fever and must be removed by a sur
sical operation. In the past this has
been done either by inserting a needle
between the ribs and drawing of the
thick fluid or by removing one rib for
more liberal drainage BY the needle
method the death rate was approxi-
mately rs per cent, while with the rib
resection the mortality was 10 per
cent
DR.. White and DR.. Collins devised