José Morón was the first to introduce the retinal light photocoagulation.

Regarding the early history of laser, it is generally accepted that the technique of retinal light photocoagulation was first pioneered by Gerd Meyer-Schwickerath in 1949. The renowned German ophthalmologist developed the technique to obtain clinically useful results and is worldwide considered the father of retinal photocoagulation. Nevertheless, we believe that the Spanish ophthalmologist José Morón (Seville, 1918-2000) was really the author of the first known experience of therapeutic photocoagulation of the retina, because he had previously used a similar technique in rabbit and human eyes in 1945 and 1946, respectively. These experiences already appeared in his doctoral dissertation, which was defended in Madrid in 1946, almost three years before the pioneering presentation of Meyer-Schwickerath. Despite this, Morón was permanently forgotten in the history of retinal photocoagulation. We would like to highlight his earlier experimental studies and reclaim the figure of this Spanish ophthalmologist, which deserves international recognition. This case is an example of a common phenomenon that inventors of new ideas are often not cited appropriately.

A history of the surgical management of glaucoma.

Many new surgeries have been devised since 1856, when von Graefe discovered that iridectomy is an effective surgical method for acute glaucoma treatment. Two years later, De Wecker presented sclerotomy as a procedure for chronic glaucoma. In 1900, internal filtration (cyclodialysis) was developed. In 1932, ciliodestruction was suggested. The four approaches, relief of pupillary block, external filtration, internal filtration, and ciliodestruction, are still the basic techniques of glaucoma surgeries over 100 years later. There have been two basic approaches to lowering eye pressure surgically: increase outflow and decrease inflow of aqueous humor. Although the majority of surgeries used nowadays were introduced in the 1960s, their roots can be traced to the work of surgeons in the 19th century. Trabeculectomy, in use since the mid-1960s, is the most effective glaucoma surgery in terms of intraocular pressure reduction but carries its own limitations. Non-penetrating glaucoma surgeries emerged at the same time trabeculectomy was presented, but they are not used as commonly as trabeculectomy. Molteno introduced the first effective shunt and followed by others. Since 1995, the majority of new surgeries have consisted of new implantable devices including SOLX, iStent, and Ex-PRESS shunt. This article will review the history of glaucoma surgery and describe the fundamentals of different glaucoma procedures.

Fundamentos del láser y su aplicación en la urología / The basics of laser and its application in urology

El láser, dispositivo de amplificación de luz por emisión estimulada de radiación, se trata de un dispositivo capaz de transformar otras energías en radiación electromagnética emitiendo haces de luz de distintas longitudes de onda. Se trata de aparatos que amplifican la luz y producen haces de luz coherentes cuya frecuencia va desde el infrarrojo hasta los rayos X. La emisión estimulada, proceso en que se basa el Láser, fue descrita por A. Einstein en 1917, pero no es hasta la década de los 60, cuando se observó el primer proceso láser en un cristal de rubí. Según el medio que emplean, los láseres suelen denominarse de estado sólido, de gas, semiconductores o líquidos. Los posibles usos del láser son casi ilimitados, convirtiéndose en una herramienta muy valiosa dentro de las Ciencias biomedicas, gracias a los diversos efectos (fotovaporización, fotodisrupción, fotocoagulación o fotoestimulación) que provoca al interactuar con los tejidos. Por este motivo, hoy día, el uso de láseres en el campo de la Urología nos ofrece un amplio abanico de posibilidades, que van desde la cirugía desobstructiva como la fragmentación de un cálculo o la resección y ablación del tejido prostático hasta la cirugía reconstructiva como es la soldadura de tejidos en la vasovasostomía o la reparación de una estenosis uretral (AU)

A laser, light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation, is a device able to transform other energies into electromagnetic radiation with emission of light beams of different wavelengths. They amplify the light and produce coherent light beams, the frequency of which varies from infrared to X ray. Stimulated emission, the process laser is based on, was described by A. Einstein in 1917, but it was not until the decade of the '60s when the first laser process was observed in a ruby crystal. Depending on the environment they use, lasers may be named as solid-state, gas, semiconductors or liquid. The possibility of uses for laser is almost unlimited, becoming a very valuable tool in biomedical sciences thanks to the various effects they produce when interacting with tissues (photovaporization, photodisruption, photocoagulation or photostimulation). For this reason, today, the use of lasers in the field of urology offers a wide range of possibilities, going from surgery for the treatment of obstruction, such as the fragmentation of a urinary stone or resection/ablation of prostatic tissue, to reconstructive surgery, such as tissue welding in vasovasostomy or urethral stenosis repair (AU)

Diabetic retinopathy--an historical review.

Diabetic macular changes in the form of yellowish spots and extravasations that permeated part or the whole thickness of the retina were observed for the first time by Eduard Jaeger in 1856. This was only possible as a result of the newly developed direct ophthalmoscope that was first described in 1855. Jaeger's findings were controversial at the time and Albrecht von Graefe openly claimed that there was no proof of a causal relationship between diabetes and retinal complications. It was only in 1872 that Edward Nettleship published his seminal paper "On oedema or cystic disease of the retina" providing the first histopathological proof of "cystoid degeneration of the macula" in patients with diabetes. In 1876, Wilhelm Manz described the proliferative changes occurring in diabetic retinopathy and the importance of tractional retinal detachments and vitreous haemorrhages. In the early years of the 20th century, the debate continued whether macular changes were directly related to diabetes or whether they were due to hypertension and arteriosclerosis. It was not until the second half of the century that the work of Arthur James Ballantyne in Glasgow provided more evidence that suggested that diabetic retinopathy represents a unique vasculopathy.

Endometrial ablation to control excessive uterine bleeding.

The use of surgical techniques is described for the management of dysfunctional uterine bleeding by endometrial ablation as alternatives to hysterectomy. Current approaches include the neodymium yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) laser and resection by electrosurgery using a ball-end electrode. Of 484 patients treated since 1985, 361 (74%) became amenorrhoeic with only occasional spotting 68 (14%) reported satisfactory results with 55 (12%) reporting an unsatisfactory outcome.

[History of photosurgery of the eye]. / Zur Geschichte der Photochirurgie des Auges.

Survey of the development of heliocautery from Antiquity to the 18th century. In art, photocoagulatin of a human eye (in order to destruct it) is, for the first time, represented in 1817 by Hieronymus Hess of Basel. A full account is given of (a) Wilhelm Werneck's therapeutic coagulations (1835): rupturing of cataract by focussed light (sun, phosphorus); (b) Maximilian Adolf Langenbeck's "insolation" of corneal, pupillary and retinal lesions and of traumatic cataract (1859); (c) Vinzenz Czerny's coagulation experiments on the retina of various animals (1867, 1882). J. Morón-Salas was the first to try photocoagulation of retinal tears (1946), but the actual initiator of modern ophthalmic photocoagulation therapy is Gerhard Meyer-Schwickerath (1949).

Laser Krypton Rojo en patologia retiniana / Red Laser Krypton in retina's pathology

En forma rapida se revisa la historia de la aplcacion de la fotocoagulacion laser en Oftalmologia. Desde 1980 se esta utilizando el Krypton rojo en determinada PATOLOGIA RETINAL. Por sus caracteristicas de mayor absorcion a nivel de coroides y por no ser absorbido por el pigmento rojo de la hemoglobina, ni por el pigmento amarillo de la esclerosis del cristalino es muy util en el tratamiento de lesiones coroideas tales como membranas subretinales y lesiones retinales con opacidades cristalinas. Ademas su penetracion mas profunda garantiza mejores resultados en el tratamiento del haz papilomacular

Historical perspectives on photocoagulation.

Benjamin Franklin may share a prominent place in the history of photocoagulation. He devised an uncomplicated experiment showing the effect of color on the absorption of light by solids and its conversion into heat motion of the molecules. His experiment and the related experiments of others leading ultimately to the development of photocoagulation techniques are discussed.

[Photocoagulation: a microsurgical welding method for ophthamology]. / Photokoagulation: Eine mikrochirurgische Schweissmethode in der Ophthalmolgie

The author describes first of all the history of photocoagulation from its very beginning up to the most recent instruments. Then examples are given of the different possibilities of application. Besides the detachment of the retina and the tumors, the diseases of the vessels of the retina are playing an important role.

Light coagulation of the eye.

A brief description is given of the history and early application of light coagulation in ophthalmology. The technique was originally developed by Meyer-Schwickerath in 1949 following clinical observation of macular damage sustained from watching an eclipse. A variety of different light sources were attempted in the prototype instruments before Carl Zeiss (Oberkochen) developed the first commercial model using a high-pressure Xenon lamp in combination with an ophthalmoscopic view of the funds. The ophthalmological clinical procedure originally advocated by Meyer-Schwickerath for light coagulation is briefly outlined and its potential application as a prophylactic treatment in certain specified pathologies is indicated.

The past 25 years of surgery.

The past 25 years have seen an explosion in interest and progress in the diagnosis and treatment of vitreoretinal diseases, especially retinal detachments. This progress has paid high dividends in the prevention of blindness and the clinical care of patients. The major advances during this period are the development of a binocular stereoscopic indirect ophthalmoscope combined with scleral depression, the introduction of a scleral buckling procedure to close retinal breaks, the development of instruments capable of producing controlled focal irritation in the ocular fundus, and the advent of direct surgical removal of the vitreous.