PubMed · 11633646
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J P Rohland. 1977. [Not Available].. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11633646/
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OBJECTIVE: To investigate the original definition and use of the term nyctalopia in ancient medical literature in view of the controversy between the English and some continental European literatures. DESIGN: Historical manuscript. METHODS: We review the use of the term in ancient Greek, Roman, and early Byzantine medical literature (5th century BC-7th century AD) and include a quick reference to the theories on its etymology. RESULTS: Physicians of antiquity defined as nyctalopia the symptom of defective dark adaptation, most commonly in the clinical setting of vitamin A deficiency. An alternative definition, the improvement of vision at night, is not recorded before the 2nd century AD and seems to result from a broader interpretation of the word, lacking medical acceptance at that time. CONCLUSIONS: We propose to the ophthalmic community the use of the term nyctalopia exclusively for the description of defective dark adaptation.
OBJECTIVES: The purposes of this article are to describe Byzantine varicose vein surgery and to note its influence on the development of these operations after that time. A study and analysis of the original texts of the Byzantine physicians, written in Greek and containing the now mostly lost knowledge of the earlier Hellenistic and Roman periods, was undertaken. RESULTS: The Byzantines paid special attention to varicosis surgery from the early period of the empire. The famous fourth-century (ce) physician Oribasius meticulously described a number of surgical methods of confronting varicosis, some of which were derived from the texts of earlier Greek surgeons, to which he added his own keen observations. Later, eminent Byzantine physicians developed these techniques further and evaluated their usefulness. CONCLUSIONS: The study of Byzantine medical texts proves that several surgical techniques on varicosis were widely practiced in Byzantine times and were derived from the work of ancient Greek and Roman physicians. The techniques described had a great influence on western medieval and later European surgery, thus constituting significant roots of modern angiology.