Editor, I have read with the great interest Grzybowski’s (2007) letter in a recent issue of Acta. The author explores the history of ophthalmology and proposes more studies and focus on this subsection of ophthalmology. I would like to share with the readers a Turkish scientist who described medical and surgical management of some ophthalmic diseases. Şerefeddin Sabuncuoğlu (AD 1385–1468) lived in the city of Amasya in central Anatolia during the early period of the Ottoman Empire. This Turkish surgeon had worked for 14 years in Amasya hospital (Amasya Darüşşifası) as a chief surgeon, when only the masters would reach such a position. In 1465, at the age of 80, he wrote a book entitled Cerrahiyyetü’l-Haniyye (meaning Imperial Surgery). He cited the Greek, Arabic and Persian textbooks in this work. Cerrahiyyetü’l-Haniyye was rediscovered in the early 20th century. The book was in antique Turkish in Arabic letters. There are only three handwritten copies present in Paris and Istanbul and some parts of it are suspected to be missing. Professor Uzel (1992) examined these three copies and published them in 1992. Sabuncuoğlu had originally written two of these; his own coloured miniature drawings concerning the operative procedures, which were the oldest illustrations, involved in a Turkish-Islamic textbook and were also included. Interestingly, Sabuncuoğlu illustrated in coloured miniatures nearly all of the surgical procedures and instruments (Fig. 1) – even though the drawing of the human form is prohibited in the Islamic religion. His illustrations are not ornamentation, but are technical and descriptive. The book consists of three chapters with 193 known sections, dealing with all the fields of surgery including ophthalmology. Each section describes the diagnosis, classification and surgical technique in detail. The ophthalmic procedures described by Sabuncuoğlu are brief intraocular procedures including cataract surgery and treatment of corneal laceration with uveal tissue incarceration; eyelid disorders including eyelid warts, chalazion, metaplastic lashes, entropion, ectropion; pterygium surgery; and lacrimal system procedures reminiscent of the current dacryocystorhinostomy operation (Oguz et al. 2004). He also describes medical and surgical management of symblepharon, lymphangiectasia, pannus, proptosis and hypopyon (Oguz 2006). Sabuncuoğlu translated his knowledge into Turkish for his colleagues and students who did not know Arabic or Persian. Despite the passage of 600 years, a number of Sabuncuoğlu’s procedures regarding the eye are still compatible with modern ophthalmology. The description of the procedures in Uzel’s book gives us the impression that Sabuncuoğlu performed and experienced all these procedures himself, then wrote and illustrated his book. Although his miniatures do not have great artistic value, it is important to emphasize that they have been drawn in a modest but serious spirit according to Islamic rules. Sabuncuoğlu performed innovate procedures first on animals and then on himself and finally on his patients, as he had written in his other book Mucerrebname (The Book of Experiences) (Sabuncuoğlu 1465). The scalpel for the treatment of pterygium. This instrument is called a mibza by Sabuncuoğlu, and is used for the excision, peeling or shaving of pterygium tissue. In conclusion, I too think that there is ample room for research on the history of ophthalmology. We can increasingly unite the experience and become more familiar with our colleagues by understanding each others’ history, at both national and international levels.
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Sep 15, 2009
Kerry D Solomon + 1
Open Access