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To the Editor.
—Absorbable suture for eye surgery is not yet perfect. Undesirable reactions continue to occur. Among these is the troublesome phenomenon of catgut allergy, according to Apt et al in their article entitled, "Catgut Allergy in Eye Muscle Surgery: I. Correlation of Eye Reaction and Skin Test Using Plain Catgut," in the Archives (63:30, 1960).Plain ovine catgut is essentially nonreactive in sheep, according to Lascelles and Claringbold in their article entitled, "The Effects of Suture Materials and Suture Techniques on the Healing of Wounds in the Skin of Sheep" (Aust J Exp Biol Med Sci38:111, 1960). Therefore, absorbable suture prepared from human tissue would be expected to cause little or no allergic reaction in man.We propose that absorbable suture for human eye surgery be prepared by reconstitution of collagen derived from human umbilical cord. This would avoid the legal problems attending the use