19th century cataract surgery and surgeons in Mexico.

Abstract

Cataract surgery has at least a 3000-year history, but it was not until the 19th century when it was refined to become a routine and successful procedure. Until early this century, the extracapsular technique, introduced by Daviel in 1748, was generally performed in Europe and America, and Mexico was no exception. The brightest and most distinguished Mexican physicians practiced that surgery. Several of their names designate the streets of "Colonia de los Doctores" in Mexico City. For the last quarter of the 19th century, ophthalmology was a defined and independent medical discipline in Mexico. The first Ophthalmologic Society in Latin America was established here in 1893, and in 1898 the oldest current journal of this specialty began its publication in Spanish. Since the 19th century--and perhaps before--cataract surgery in Mexico has been practiced at the same level as in the U.S. and Europe.