THE SELECTED PAGES OF THE HISTORY OF PEDIATRIC OPHTHALMOLOGY IN SAINT PETERSBURG

Abstract

The history of pediatric ophthalmology in Saint Petersburg dates back to the opening of the city children’s hospital “in memory of the sacred coronation of their Imperil Majesties” under the patronage of Nikolas II, Emperor of Russia, in 1905. Based at this facility, the Russia’s first department of pediatric ophthalmology was founded in 1935 to be affiliated with Leningrad Pediatric Medical Institute. The department was successively headed by professors V.V. Chirkovsky, L.A. Dymshits, V.I. Grigor’eva, A.I. Gorban’, and E.E. Somov. The present head of the department is professor V.V. Brzheskiy. One more department of pediatric ophthalmology was opened in 1983 based at the Leningrad Institute of Advanced Medical Training. It was successively headed by the associate professor V.V. Kolotov, professors S.S. Saporovsky and R.L. Troyanovsky, E.I. Saidasheva, d-r med. sci. At present, an extensive network of children’s clinics and specialized kindergartens for the children suffering from visual impairment successfully operates in Saint-Petersburg, besides two schools for the blind and visually impaired children, the eye diagnostic centre for the children and adults, and three pediatric ophthalmological hospitals. The city pediatric ophthalmology service is headed by R.V. Ershova. N.N. Sadovnikova is in charge of the Ophthalmological Department of the Clinic of Saint Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University. The Ophthalmological Department of K.A. Raukhfus municipal city hospital No 19 is headed by A.V. Baranov, PhD, and the Department of Eye Microsurgery at the Leningrad regional Children’s Clinical Hospital by O.V. Diskalenko. The present-day clinical, scientific, and educational potential of the Saint-Petersburg pediatric ophthalmological community formed at the base of many-year experience of the preceding generations of physicians continues to further increase which creates conditions for the formulation and successful achievement of the new ambitious goals.