The first cataract surgeons in Latin America: 1611–1830

Christopher T Leffler,1 Ricardo D Wainsztein2 1Department of Ophthalmology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA; 2Instituto de la Visión, Buenos Aires, Argentina Abstract: We strove to identify the earliest cataract surgeons in Latin America. Probably by 1611, the Genove...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Leffler CT, Wainsztein RD
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Dove Medical Press 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/2dfc8bb94dd2444fbd94424cf43fff8a
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
Descripción
Sumario:Christopher T Leffler,1 Ricardo D Wainsztein2 1Department of Ophthalmology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA; 2Instituto de la Visión, Buenos Aires, Argentina Abstract: We strove to identify the earliest cataract surgeons in Latin America. Probably by 1611, the Genovese oculist Francisco Drago was couching cataracts in Mexico City. The surgeon Melchor Vásquez de Valenzuela probably performed cataract couching in Lima by 1697. Juan Peré of France demonstrated cataract couching in Veracruz and Mexico City between 1779 and 1784. Juan Ablanedo of Spain performed couching in Veracruz in 1791. Cataract extraction might have been performed in Havana and Caracas by 1793 and in Mexico by 1797. The earliest contemporaneously documented cataract extractions in Latin America were performed in Guatemala City by Narciso Esparragosa in 1797. In addition to Esparragosa, surgeons born in the New World who established the academic teaching of cataract surgery included José Miguel Muñoz in Mexico and José María Vargas in Caracas. Although cataract surgery came quite early to Latin America, its availability was initially inconsistent and limited. Keywords: cataract surgery, couching, history of medicine