Origen y desarrollo de la cirugía del desprendimiento de retina con implantes esclerales y su introducción en Cuba / Origin and development of retina detachment surgery with scleral implants and its introduction in Cuba

Se realizó una revisión bibliográfica con el objetivo de conocer los orígenes del tratamiento quirúrgico del desprendimiento regmatógeno de retina, el desarrollo de la técnica quirúrgica mediante implantes esclerales y su introducción en Cuba, así como su utilización hasta nuestros días. Son abordados tópicos como la creación del primer servicio de retina en el Hospital Ramón Pando Ferrer, la visita de Charles Schepens a La Habana y la labor de importantes profesores vinculados al desarrollo de la especialidad en Cuba. Se consultó una bibliografía que abarca un período de varios años hasta el presente para conocer los resultados de la utilización de esta técnica quirúrgica en la actualidad y demostrar, de esa forma, su vigencia

A bibliographic review was conducted to know the origins of the surgical treatment of the retina regmatogen detachment, the development of the surgical technique using scleral transplantations, as well as its introduction in Cuba and its use until nowadays. Subjects like the creation of our first Retina Service, the visit of Charles Schepens to La Habana and the work of important professors linked with development of the specialty in Cuba were approached. The bibliography covering a period of some years until now was looked up to know the results of the use of such surgical technique in present time and to demonstrate its validity

Jules Gonin. Pioneer of retinal detachment surgery.

Before the turn of the 20th century, eyes with a retinal detachment were considered doomed. Contrary to other branches of ophthalmology, such as cataract extraction, the surgical treatment of retinal detachment was still in its infancy, and the surgical success rates were less than five percent. From 1902 to 1921 Jules Gonin almost single handedly changed the landscape of retinal detachment surgery forever. He recognised that the retinal break was the cause--and not the consequence as it was largely believed at the time--of the retinal detachment, and that the treatment had at all costs to comprise the closure of the break by cauterisation. He named the procedure ignipuncture, as he cauterised the retina through the sclera with a very hot pointed instrument. Despite rigorously detailed clinical observations and increasing success rates, his discovery was not readily accepted and sometimes openly opposed by a large part of the ophthalmic establishment. It was not until 1929 that he received worldwide acclaim at the International Ophthalmological Congress in Amsterdam for his surgical technique. His legacy lives on in the eye hospital in Lausanne that bears his name, in the Gonin Medal awarded by the International Council of Ophthalmology every four years for the highest achievement in ophthalmology, and in a street named after him, the very street that he used to walk from his home to the hospital every day.