EYE DISEASES PROPER 



200 1 



Epitheliosis Desquamativa. 

 Synonym.— Samoan eye disease. 



Under this term Leber and von Prowazek have described a form 

 of conjunctivitis which they met with in Samoa, where they exam- 

 in d and treated seventy-nine fresh infections. They consider the 

 causation to be a chlamydozoon — Lyozoon atrophicans Leber and 

 von Prowazek, 1911— which is found in the milky secretion in the 

 form of trachoma-hke bodies, which, when coloured by Giemsa, show 

 blue poles and a central lacuna. These bodies are either intra- 

 cellular or extracellular. The intracellular bodies form what is 

 commonly called a ' cell inclusion of small granules,' which take 

 on a violet -red colour when stained by Giemsa, and are called the 

 ' elementary bodies ' and lie in the centre, while the larger initial 

 bodies lie at thejperiphery. These parasites cause a hypertrophy 

 of the cell nucleus, which eventually leads to an atrophy of the cell. 

 The disease was conveyed to guinea-pigs. 



The symptoms begin with pain, photophobia, and livid coloration 

 of the upper and lower lids, while a milky secretion is poured out, 

 which is composed at first of epithelial cells only, but may become 

 purulent. Granules similar to those of trachoma do not develop, 

 but atrophy of the conjunctiva ensues. The treatment recom- 

 mended is pyoktanin in the proportion of i in 1,000 to i in 100. 



ConiuRctivitis phlyetenulosa. 



This is not very frequently met with in the tropics. It is usually found 

 in scrofulous individuals, and is characterized by the presence of small 

 vesicles, each surrounded by a reddened zone. 



Conjunctivitis Vernalis. 



Synonyms. — Conjunctivitis ^stivalis. Spring catarrh. 



Definition^ — A chronic form of conjunctivitis, resembling con- 

 junctivitis trachomatosa, but occurring in the spring and summer, 

 and disappearing in the autumn and winter. 



Remarks. — Spring catarrh is apparently not so rare in the tropics 

 as in the Temperate Zone, as Nell informs us that he has met with 

 thirty-eight cases in Ceylon. 



etiology. — The cause is unknown, but some authorities consider ' 

 that it is due to sunlight, while others hold that it is an infection 

 from the skin. 



Symptomatology. — On the approach of the warm weather in 

 spring the eyes begin to itch and water. The conjunctiva becomes' 

 red, and phot ophobief is experienced. On examination the con- 

 junctiva is seen to be covered with broad, flattened papillae, over 

 which a bluish-white film is seen. The affection lasts during the 

 summer, wanes in the autumn, and disappears in the winter, only 

 to recur in the spring. 



Diagnosis. — The diagnosis must be made by the history and by the 

 bluish-white sheen over the papillae. It resembles trachoma, but 



126 



