SIMPLE POSTERIOR SCLEROTOMY AND SCLERECTOMY: AN ADJUNCT TO OPERATIONS FOR GLAUCOMA

Incision of the posterior part of the sclera is one of the oldest of operative measures for the relief of increased intraocular pressure. According to Priestley Smith,¹ Beard² and Duke-Elder³ it was William MacKenzie of Glasgow who first made use of this procedure, around 1830. However, Masselon,⁴ writing in 1886, stated that Guerin, of Lyon, had advised scleral puncture for ocular hypertension more than one hundred years previously. After MacKenzie this procedure seems to have fallen into disuse until revived by de Luca.⁵ Thereafter it was recommended in turn by such outstanding ophthalmic surgeons as Weber,⁶ Nicati,⁷ Parinaud,⁸ Priestley Smith¹ and Gifford.⁹

Beard² also stated that it was Masselon⁴ who first conceived the idea of doing a simple posterior sclerotomy without choroidotomy or retinotomy. But a rereading of the latter's concise French seems to show that he was