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The Incidence and Causes of Blindness in England and Wales 1948-1962
VOL. 64, NO. 1
BOOK REVIEWS
tail along with the Krahn instrument. The equipment for external photography de scribed in greatest detail is that manufac tured by Ihagee in Dresden since the author is chief of service in an eye clinic in that city. However, even though these cameras are available here they almost certainly do not represent the best choice available to us. Conversely, although some of the publica tions of Allen and of Donaldson appear in the list of references, little attention is paid to this material in the text. These papers should be required reading for any serious ophthalmic photographer in the United States. To summarize, the book is most valuable in its historical material and its general suggestions on technique. Today's external conditions make it least valuable when dis cussing specific pieces of equipment. Albert M. Potts By Rudolf Sachsenweger. Leipzig, Georg Thieme. Clothbound, 463 pages, 263 black-andwhite figures. Price: $18.00. This volume is a further contribution to the ever-growing list of books concerned with the anomalies of the neuromuscular system. It deals specifically with the paral yses of the extraocular muscles.
AUGENMUSKELLÄHMUNGEN.
An introductory section (65 pages) ori ents the reader to the anatomy of muscles and nerves, the function of the extraocular muscles and the gaze movements. The next section of the book deals with the diagnosis of the paralyses, with particular emphasis on the diplopia field testing. Prism and cover test and measurements of the devia tion in the diagnostic positions are not dis cussed. Electromyography is given only two pages, dealing largely with matters of tech nique. The differential diagnosis, the seat of the lesion in the various forms of paralyses and the etiology form the main body of the book (200 pages). The surgical therapy is also given rather detailed treatment. The book is written in clear, forthright
183
style and should be a useful introduction to the field. The more advanced reader and student of the field will be grateful to the author for his complete coverage of the lit erature. As he himself states, he takes up where Bielschowsky left off in 1931 with his classical contribution to the Graefe-Saemisch handbook which covers the prior litera ture completely. Sachsenweger brings it up to date through 1965. Whoever consults the two volumes can be pretty well assured that he is not missing any significant contribu tions to the literature on the paralyses of the extraocular muscles. Hermann M. Burian T H E INCIDENCE AND CAUSES OF BLINDNESS
1948-1962. By Arnold Sorsby. 79 pages, 47 tables, Lon don, England, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1966. Available from British In formation Service, New York. Price: $1.30. Prof. Arnold Sorsby's studies in the last 15 years of causes of blindness are well con solidated in this booklet. He has previously published three reports of his work. The ap proximately 11,000 new blind registered each year in the area studied are mainly in the 70-year-and-over age group, so the total number of blind remains nearly constant. Several interesting observations are made. The numbers on the blind register are not rising in proportion to the increasing num bers of old people in the population. The in cidence of blindness in childhood is decreas ing and appears to be reaching a bedrock level inasmuch as the blinding afflictions today are largely congenital anomalies and hereditary disturbances. It is possible that both optic atrophy and retinoblastoma are on the increase, in contrast to the markedly falling incidence of retrolental fibroplasia and the virtual disappearance of infection; only one case of ophthalmia neonatorum was recorded in this period, and no cases of interstitial keratitis. The main causes of blindness at present I N ENGLAND AND WALES
184
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
are macular degeneration, senile cataract and glaucoma, followed by myopic chorioretinal atrophy, diabetic retinopathy and con genital defects. The proportions of blind ness caused by these afflictions are likely to change slightly. Prof. Sorsby believes that future prospects are for a relatively stationary blind population. A decrease in the proportion of cataract cases is being offset by an increase in the number of those blinded by macular lesions, and congenital maldevelopment abnormalities appear to re main much the same. This compact paperback volume is a valu able statistical survey for public health workers, ophthalmologists and others deal ing with the social aspects of blinding dis eases. Frank W. Newell
PERFORMANCE OF T H E EYE AT LOW L U MINANCES. M. A. Bouman and J. J. Vos,
Editors. Amsterdam, Excerpta Medica Foundation, 1966. Paperbound, 211 pages, 7 tables, 116 black and white figures. Price: $12.50. This book represents the proceedings of a colloquium held in Delft in 1965. In a sense, the title is a misnomer. The major emphasis seems to be on the evaluation of the relative contributions to the spatial summation and contrast transfer characteristics of the eye of (a) the dioptrics of the eye, (b) the re ceptor system and (c) the neural processes. The majority of the 17 papers present re cent data and theory not currently available elsewhere in published form. It would help the reader if the data of various authors were presented in a form which would allow for direct visual comparison. It is to be hoped that a conventional method for the plotting of contrast functions will soon be adopted. This book should be of great value to visual scientists who have some background knowledge in the field. Joel Pokorny
JULY, 1967
RECOMMENDED AIDS FOR THE PARTIALLY SIGHTED. By Louise L. Sloan, Ph.D. New York, National Society for the Prevention of Blindness, 1966. Paperbound, 36 pages, 26 figures in black and white, 2 tables, chapter references. Price: $1.00. This brochure systemizes brilliantly the results of 10 years of research on optical aids. Practically every type is illustrated and discussed, but the emphasis is on nonspectacle reading aids. Testing equipment and procedures are described that facilitate se lection of the most suitable device for the particular degree of visual impairment. Snellen optotypes for distance or near give an inadequate indication of the magnification required. Sloan's modification of Snellen's reading cards with continuous text are much more informative. High plus spectacle lenses were prescribed when indicated but only after a trial at home with a clip-on loupe of similar power assured their acceptability. In such cases when one eye has no useful vision, a bifocal is preferable for the better eye; otherwise it is often useful to correct the poorer eye for distance and the better eye for near. For the occasional reading of price tags, menus and telephone numbers, the portable hand magnifier is often suffici ent. Many old patients cannot learn to read at the short distance necessary for a high plus correction and prefer a stand magni fier. As a virtual image is then viewed at a short distance behind the lens, these are used with the patient's reading glasses ; but with the focusable magnifiers of Sloan addi tional spectacles are unnecessary. A hand held monocular telescope is helpful for the identification of street and bus signs. Very serviceable tables list the various magnifiers and accessory aids with the sources of supply and a final wondrous table lists the magni fiers for each level of reading vision. This inexpensive and admirable work is indeed multum in parvo and every ophthal mologist is advised to have it on his office book shelf. James E. Lebensohn
BOOK REVIEWS
tail along with the Krahn instrument. The equipment for external photography de scribed in greatest detail is that manufac tured by Ihagee in Dresden since the author is chief of service in an eye clinic in that city. However, even though these cameras are available here they almost certainly do not represent the best choice available to us. Conversely, although some of the publica tions of Allen and of Donaldson appear in the list of references, little attention is paid to this material in the text. These papers should be required reading for any serious ophthalmic photographer in the United States. To summarize, the book is most valuable in its historical material and its general suggestions on technique. Today's external conditions make it least valuable when dis cussing specific pieces of equipment. Albert M. Potts By Rudolf Sachsenweger. Leipzig, Georg Thieme. Clothbound, 463 pages, 263 black-andwhite figures. Price: $18.00. This volume is a further contribution to the ever-growing list of books concerned with the anomalies of the neuromuscular system. It deals specifically with the paral yses of the extraocular muscles.
AUGENMUSKELLÄHMUNGEN.
An introductory section (65 pages) ori ents the reader to the anatomy of muscles and nerves, the function of the extraocular muscles and the gaze movements. The next section of the book deals with the diagnosis of the paralyses, with particular emphasis on the diplopia field testing. Prism and cover test and measurements of the devia tion in the diagnostic positions are not dis cussed. Electromyography is given only two pages, dealing largely with matters of tech nique. The differential diagnosis, the seat of the lesion in the various forms of paralyses and the etiology form the main body of the book (200 pages). The surgical therapy is also given rather detailed treatment. The book is written in clear, forthright
183
style and should be a useful introduction to the field. The more advanced reader and student of the field will be grateful to the author for his complete coverage of the lit erature. As he himself states, he takes up where Bielschowsky left off in 1931 with his classical contribution to the Graefe-Saemisch handbook which covers the prior litera ture completely. Sachsenweger brings it up to date through 1965. Whoever consults the two volumes can be pretty well assured that he is not missing any significant contribu tions to the literature on the paralyses of the extraocular muscles. Hermann M. Burian T H E INCIDENCE AND CAUSES OF BLINDNESS
1948-1962. By Arnold Sorsby. 79 pages, 47 tables, Lon don, England, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1966. Available from British In formation Service, New York. Price: $1.30. Prof. Arnold Sorsby's studies in the last 15 years of causes of blindness are well con solidated in this booklet. He has previously published three reports of his work. The ap proximately 11,000 new blind registered each year in the area studied are mainly in the 70-year-and-over age group, so the total number of blind remains nearly constant. Several interesting observations are made. The numbers on the blind register are not rising in proportion to the increasing num bers of old people in the population. The in cidence of blindness in childhood is decreas ing and appears to be reaching a bedrock level inasmuch as the blinding afflictions today are largely congenital anomalies and hereditary disturbances. It is possible that both optic atrophy and retinoblastoma are on the increase, in contrast to the markedly falling incidence of retrolental fibroplasia and the virtual disappearance of infection; only one case of ophthalmia neonatorum was recorded in this period, and no cases of interstitial keratitis. The main causes of blindness at present I N ENGLAND AND WALES
184
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
are macular degeneration, senile cataract and glaucoma, followed by myopic chorioretinal atrophy, diabetic retinopathy and con genital defects. The proportions of blind ness caused by these afflictions are likely to change slightly. Prof. Sorsby believes that future prospects are for a relatively stationary blind population. A decrease in the proportion of cataract cases is being offset by an increase in the number of those blinded by macular lesions, and congenital maldevelopment abnormalities appear to re main much the same. This compact paperback volume is a valu able statistical survey for public health workers, ophthalmologists and others deal ing with the social aspects of blinding dis eases. Frank W. Newell
PERFORMANCE OF T H E EYE AT LOW L U MINANCES. M. A. Bouman and J. J. Vos,
Editors. Amsterdam, Excerpta Medica Foundation, 1966. Paperbound, 211 pages, 7 tables, 116 black and white figures. Price: $12.50. This book represents the proceedings of a colloquium held in Delft in 1965. In a sense, the title is a misnomer. The major emphasis seems to be on the evaluation of the relative contributions to the spatial summation and contrast transfer characteristics of the eye of (a) the dioptrics of the eye, (b) the re ceptor system and (c) the neural processes. The majority of the 17 papers present re cent data and theory not currently available elsewhere in published form. It would help the reader if the data of various authors were presented in a form which would allow for direct visual comparison. It is to be hoped that a conventional method for the plotting of contrast functions will soon be adopted. This book should be of great value to visual scientists who have some background knowledge in the field. Joel Pokorny
JULY, 1967
RECOMMENDED AIDS FOR THE PARTIALLY SIGHTED. By Louise L. Sloan, Ph.D. New York, National Society for the Prevention of Blindness, 1966. Paperbound, 36 pages, 26 figures in black and white, 2 tables, chapter references. Price: $1.00. This brochure systemizes brilliantly the results of 10 years of research on optical aids. Practically every type is illustrated and discussed, but the emphasis is on nonspectacle reading aids. Testing equipment and procedures are described that facilitate se lection of the most suitable device for the particular degree of visual impairment. Snellen optotypes for distance or near give an inadequate indication of the magnification required. Sloan's modification of Snellen's reading cards with continuous text are much more informative. High plus spectacle lenses were prescribed when indicated but only after a trial at home with a clip-on loupe of similar power assured their acceptability. In such cases when one eye has no useful vision, a bifocal is preferable for the better eye; otherwise it is often useful to correct the poorer eye for distance and the better eye for near. For the occasional reading of price tags, menus and telephone numbers, the portable hand magnifier is often suffici ent. Many old patients cannot learn to read at the short distance necessary for a high plus correction and prefer a stand magni fier. As a virtual image is then viewed at a short distance behind the lens, these are used with the patient's reading glasses ; but with the focusable magnifiers of Sloan addi tional spectacles are unnecessary. A hand held monocular telescope is helpful for the identification of street and bus signs. Very serviceable tables list the various magnifiers and accessory aids with the sources of supply and a final wondrous table lists the magni fiers for each level of reading vision. This inexpensive and admirable work is indeed multum in parvo and every ophthal mologist is advised to have it on his office book shelf. James E. Lebensohn