Szemészet, 2004 (141. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)

2004-06-01 / 2. szám

198

Szemészet

in 1956. It was in 1969 that István Hatvani started using cytology in tumour diagnosis. He was rewarded for this by the “Szemészet” editorial board.

The Society held a scientific meeting from 30-31 May 1969 in Debrecen, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of László Blaskovics. 152 ophthalmologists took part. Several memorial lectures were delivered recalling his merits as surgeon, physician, Director, and as a man. There were in addition a further 34 scientific lectures. In 1970 the year again started with a commemorative article, written by Magda Radnót. This was for József Imre jun., who had achieved so much in his lifespan of 61 years. A sad loss which occurred in 1970 was the death, at the age of 78, of István Csapody. He was born in 1892. In the 3rd issue of “Szemészet”, 17 articles in honour of the 70th birthday of professor Nónay were published, written by his one-time students at the 2nd Department of Ophthalmology.

In the last issue of 1970 minutes of sessions and contributions may be found, but with no dates given. It is at least clear that the scientific session was an international one, with the participation of colleagues from Yugoslavia, Romania, and the Soviet Union.

For the year at the end of the decade, let me present some data. Since 1969, 15 scientific meetings had been held. The last general assembly was held on 8-9 October 1970, in Budapest. Lectures were delivered by Kahán and Lugossy. Altogether 46 papers were presented, 6 of them by foreign participants.

1971-1975

The reason why the historical data on IOL implantation came to notice in 1971 was because Galli and Bozsó wrote an article on cryoextraction and its merits. Galli was among the first to deal with the subject of IOL implantation and performed animal experiments, publishing his results in 1962. Later he also wrote about IOL implantation in humans. It is well-known that Ridley in 1951 recommended posterior-chamber lens implantation, but his surgeries had a high rate of complications. Therefore the technique was modified and anterior-chamber lenses were preferred. In Hungary the Dannheim, Lieb, DuPont, or Guerry lenses were used. The studies published in 1971 reported that anterior-chamber lenses, or the Fedorov type iris-clip lenses, were implanted following cryoextraction.

In 1971 Alberth published his study on the first use in Hungary of a keratoprosthesis for a human. Although Győrffy reported on the use of an acrylic corneal transplant as early as 1951, we have no knowledge of its use in humans.

From 28-29 May 1971 the Society held a scientific meeting in Szombathely. Sixty lectures were delivered in the two sessions. This was a so-called “peripatetic meeting” (vándorgyűlés), the first time this term had been used in “Szemészet”. In 1971 a book by Béla Alberth was published in German, “Die chirurgische Behandlung der Ätzverletzungen des Auges” (Surgical treatment of chemical burns to the eye) (Enke Verlag, Stuttgart).

In 1971 Magda Radnót was 60 years old. She had by then published 246 articles, most of them in foreign journals, and 6 books. The obituaries of the year were for Aladár Kenessey (in his 100th year), Ferenc Kukán (73), Ferenc Papolczy (70), and Olga Szántó (81).

The previous leadership elections of the Society had taken place in 1969, when Aladár Kettesy had been elected as President and György Imre as General Secretary. The new electoral meeting was held on 25 February 1972. The new President was Magda Radnót, the General Secretary Attila Medgyaszai. The Executive Committee had in all 50 members. The Society’s financial balance stood at 39 736.60 Forints. The membership had increased from 322 in 1969 to 356. Even so, not every ophthalmologist was a member. At that time the number of ophthalmologists in Hungary, including those in training, was about 480.

The turn of the years 1971-1972 was utilised in preparations for the 4th Congress of the European Ophthalmology Society, which was to be held in Budapest. The Society had only modest financial resources since its income was derived solely from the membership fees and the sponsorship it received from the state optical and photographic company “OFOTERT”. In spite of this the Society undertook to publish a special issue of “Szemészet” in an extended print-run of 1500, so that all participants at the European Ophthalmology Society Congress could receive a copy.

The above Congress was held from 17-21 April 1972 in the “MEMOSZ” headquarters building. The chair was taken by Magda Radnót. The Congress General Secretary was Béla Németh. The keynote-topic was “functional examination methods in ophthalmology”. The number of guest-lecturers was 23. Besides a session on related topics, there were also symposia held on ultrastructure, ergo-ophthalmology, trachoma, matters related to blindness, and the lachrymal organs. A session on artificial-plastic implants was held in the 2nd Department of Ophthalmology. Another session on tumours of the eye and its protective organs was held in the Semmelweis Hall. This was the first time that the Congress of the European Ophthalmology Society had been held in a “socialist” country. The Congress was accompanied by an exhibition with more than 50 exhibiting companies. Two special postage-stamps were issued to commemorate the Congress: the first showed Gullstrand, Filatov and Gonin, the other showed József Imre jun. and László Blaskovics. Each active Congress-participant was presented with a set of the stamps.

Mrs Ebba Thott (the former wife of József Imre jun.) had founded an award in honour of the late Professor, and the first presentation of the Imre Award took place at the Congress. It was given to Dr. Péter Jobbágyi, a young teacher at the 1st Department of Ophthalmology, for his lecture titled “Examination of eye-pressure in a hyperbaric chamber”. The coauthors were István Heszberger and Árpád Faludi.

Magdolna Zajácz