Remembering Dr. Marc Amsler
Dr.Marc Amsler (born on February 5, 1891– died on May 3, 1968)
Prof. Marc Amsler was an outstanding teacher of ophthalmology and a highly creative clinician, investigator and designer of instruments and surgical procedures.
His contributions for ophthalmology:
- The Amsler grid: Chart used to detect and document macular and optic nerve problems in the eye. It seems likely that Amsler got the idea for his patterns from a small card with a grid pattern that Edmund Landolt (1846-1826) designed to place in the centre of his perimeter to test the macula. Landolt may have intended to describe his test card in print, but he never did, and his plans for the card are not known. It appears to have been Amsler’s idea to take the grid out of the perimeter and use it as an independent test and in doing so Amsler experimented extensively with different patterns and different colours of grid design.
Amsler-grid - Amsler -Verrey sign: It is characterized by haemorrhage in the anterior chamber (hyphema) after anterior chamber paracentesis or entry with the microvitreoretinal blade during anterior segment surgeries including cataract surgery or minor trauma. This haemorrhage is due to the presence of fine, fragile vessels in the angle of the anterior chamber. The sign got its name from Dr. Marc Amsler and Dr. Florian Verrey who described it in 1946.
- The Amsler- Dubois chart: Fundus findings can be drawn in this chart. It contains three concentric circles – the innermost circle represents the equator, the middle circle represents the ora serrata, and the outer one is the junction between the pars plana and plicata. The Roman numerical is used to designate the location and extent of the lesions in clock hours. The macula is drawn centrally, and the optic nerve head is located nasal to the macula.