Glaucoma. A handbook for the general practitioner

Historical Significance: Robert Elliott developed a trephining procedure for glaucoma in 1913 that was a lot more effective in treating chronic glaucoma than an iridectomy, so his procedure took its place beside Holth's iridencleisis as one of the most popular glaucoma operations for the next 40 years. This is an early book on glaucoma although it post-dates books such as Keyser, PD. Glaucoma: its symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment 1864, Testelin, A. Glaucoma and its cure by iridectomy 1866, Stirling, AW. Glaucoma; its symptoms, varieties, pathology and treatment 1898 and W Spencer Watson. Eyeball-tension: its effect on the sight and its treatment 1879 (Cat No 1844). Robert Henry Elliot MD BS, ScD, FRCS (1864 - 1936) trained at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London, becoming doctor of medicine in 1889. In Madras, India, he was professor of eye medicine at the Medical College as well as superintendent of the Government Ophthalmological Hospital, and in 1929 lecturer of this discipline at the London School of Tropical Medicine. While working at the Government Ophthalmic Hospital in Madras, Major Elliot began in 1909 to use a trephine to make a very anterior sclerectomy under a conjunctival flap, coupled with a peripheral iridectomy, in the hope of improving on the operation of Pierre Felix Lagrange (1857-1928). This known as Elliot's operation or Elliot's corneal trephination or Elliot's trephination, When Elliot reported 50 cases in 1909 he didn't know that Freeland Fergus in Glasgow and S?ren Holth (1863-1937) in Christiania (now Oslo) had just reported something similar. His book on Sclero-corneal Trephining appeared in 1913 after 900 cases, and the procedure received world-wide publicity. Elliot made a trip to America visiting many ophthalmic centres and doing his operation 135 more times.