Sunday 28 October 2012

What's In A Name Like Castroviejo

By Patrice McCoy


Castroviejo is the name of a village in a beautiful, mountainous area of Spain, near La Rioja. This village has a very ancient history and must be one of the few places in the world where the population has declined . In 1857 the population was around 250 000 people and in 2010 it was down to 57 000. Apparently human beings have been a major export over the years. Many have the name of the village as their surname and some have achieved great things to become famous.

A famous person who bore the name of the Spanish village was Castroviejo, an eye surgeon, or ophthalmologist. Born in a town to the north of the village he was educated at the University of Madrid and emigrated to America where he worked in New York. He made a name for himself and did well enough to eventually own his own hospital. After retirement he returned to Spain and eventually died in 1987 in Madrid.

The major contribution made by Ramon was in the field of eye surgery, and in particular in corneal transplantation. He worked during the difficult war years but many of his surgical techniques remained in use for many years until they were overtaken by modern developments and new equipment. However, many people benefited from improved eyesight thanks to his work.

The cornea of the eye can become inflamed for a number of diverse reasons. This impairs the sight and can be extremely painful. In corneal transplantation a doctor stitches a healthy cornea from a donor onto the eye of the patient. There are many variations of this procedure but the delicacy of the operation and the great skill involved is obvious to all.

In 1905 a Czech by the name of Eduard Zirm performed the first corneal transplant. Ramon Castroviejo performed another more complicated operation thirty years later, just as the Second World War began. His techniques broke new ground in surgery. It was in this area of technique that his major contribution was made.

Since those early days techniques have obviously improved radically. Microscopy has advanced significantly and so have the sutures that are available. Such developments have improved procedures considerably but some if the extremely fine instruments still in use owe their origin to the work of early ophthalmologists. They were the ones who took the first pioneering steps that subsequent doctors have been in a position to build upon. Writing, and the publication of academic journals plays its part in the advancement of human endeavor.

Orthopedic surgeons may use clamps and metal splints that are surprisingly agricultural in appearance but the delicate clamps, knives and calipers required by eye surgeons are more like the delicate instruments used by fine artists or jewelers. There cannot be a large market for them and those that are displayed for sale online seem surprisingly cheap under the circumstances.

Manufacturers of instruments for eye surgery must be required to produce instruments that are amongst the finest and most precise, comparing in those respects even with most precise jewelers' instruments. After all, an eye is most probably of more value to an individual that the largest of diamonds and Castroviejo's instruments are designed with that in mind.




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