Images Magazine Spring 2013 - Bascom Palmer Eye Institute

“The VISC was one tool that woulddo three different things. It providedmacular and vitreo-retinal disorders.He also wrote the Gass Atlas ofMacular Diseases, one of the mostthe foundation for doing intraocularimportant ophthalmological texts. Inmicrosurgery while preventing thea fitting tribute to his stellar career,the Association of Cataract and collapse of the eye.”Refractive Surgeons in 1999 namedJean-Marie Parel, Ph.D., Ing., ETS-GGass as one of the 10 most influentialophthalmologists of the 20th century.After joining Bascom Palmer in1965, John T. Flynn, M.D., saw many pediatric patients and launched a treatment program foramblyopia (“lazy eye”). Flynn also began looking at retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), known in the1960s as retrolental fibroplasia, a condition that causes abnormal development of blood vesselsin the retina of a premature infant. The result can be scarring and retinal detachment, leading toblindness in serious cases.Using techniques like fluorescein angiography and medical photography of the fundus, Flynndeveloped a five-stage classification for ROP. “Today, every ROP paper uses those internationalclassifications,” said Flynn. “It’s provided the framework for worldwide research on ROP.”Also in the early 1960s, Norton launched the Institute’s laboratory research program, whichhas made numerous contributions to the science of vision through the decades. One of his firsthires, Duco I. Hamasaki, Ph.D., focused on neurophysiology, using experimental models to studythe eye’s photoreceptors and gaining insights into the workings of the retina. As Hamasaki said,“I came to Bascom Palmer because Dr. Norton had a strong commitment to research, as well asteaching and patient care.”Creating a Modern Ophthalmic HospitalOn April 20, 1970, Bascom Palmer retinal specialist Robert Machemer, M.D., performed theworld’s first pars plana vitrectomy on a Miami patient who had not seen with his right eye for fiveyears. Until then, ophthalmologists had considered the vitreous body forbidden territory becauseof the risk of causing a retinal detachment. This breakthrough was a decade-long team effort81970RevolutionizesvitreoretinalsurgeryRobert Machemer,M.D., performsthe world’s firstsuccessfulpars planavitrectomy.1971 FactsNumber of patients32,000Surgical procedures2,0001970Biophysics Center establishedCredited with developing more than 350 ophthalmicdevices and instruments, Jean-Marie Parel, Ph.D., INGETS-G, creates Bascom Palmer’s ophthalmic biophysics center.