Ramón Castroviejo Briones (1904–1987) was a Spanish and American eye surgeon remembered for his achievements in
corneal transplantation.
Biography
Born in
Logroño
Logroño () is the capital of the province of La Rioja, situated in northern Spain. Traversed in its northern part by the Ebro River, Logroño has historically been a place of passage, such as the Camino de Santiago. Its borders were disputed b ...
, Spain he received his medical education at the
University of Madrid. He graduated in 1927 and worked at the Chicago Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital and the
Mayo Clinic before, in 1931, he came to
Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New ...
in New York. He became the director of Ophthalmology at
St. Vincent's Hospital before he opened his own hospital when he bought the
Hammond House. After his retirement he moved to Madrid where he died.
Achievements
While not being the first to successfully graft human cornea, he improved the technique of the operation in the 1930s and 1940s, prompting the worldwide adoption of corneal transplantation as a standard way to deal with severe corneal pathology. His
keratoplasty technique remained standard until more efficient suture materials became available.
RAMON CASTROVIEJO, md
» by Arthur Gerard DeVoe; Trans Am Ophthalmol Soc. 1987; 85: 6-8.
Castroviejo designed the Castroviejo
needle holder
A needle holder, also called needle driver or needle forceps, is a surgical instrument similar to a hemostat, used by doctors and surgeons to hold and push a suturing needle when performing wound closure, ligation and other surgical procedure ...
, an instrument used in eye, dental and other forms of
microsurgery
Microsurgery is a general term for surgery requiring an operating microscope. The most obvious developments have been procedures developed to allow anastomosis of successively smaller blood vessels and nerves (typically 1 mm in diameter) whic ...
.
See also
*
Vladimir Filatov - a Soviet contemporary of Castroviejo that was also a pioneer in corneal transplantation.
Books, articles by Castroviejo
Atlas of Keratectomy and Keratoplasty Ramon Castroviejo. 446 pages. Published by W.B. SAUNDERS COMPANY in 1966.
References
External links
Cornea Society- previously known as Castroviejo Cornea Society.
Curriculum Vitaeat the Madrid University website
1904 births
1987 deaths
Spanish ophthalmologists
Spanish emigrants to the United States
American military doctors
New York University faculty
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