Carl Ferdinand Ritter von Arlt

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Carl Ferdinand Ritter von Arlt (April 18, 1812 - March 7, 1887) was an Austrian ophthalmologist who was born in Obergraupen, a village near Teplitz in Bohemia. He earned his doctorate in Prague in 1839, and later became a professor of ophthalmology in Prague (1849-1856) and Vienna (1856-1883).

Arlt published a prodiguous number of books and articles concerning diseases of the eye, and collaborated with Albrecht von Graefe and Franciscus Donders on the journal Archiv für Ophthalmologie. He was the first physician to provide proof that myopia (short-sightedness) is a consequence of excessive axial length of the eye. He is also credited for conducting annual eye clinics in impoverished areas. His son Ferdinand Ritter von Arlt (1842-1917) was also an ophthalmologist.

The following eponyms are named after Arlt:

• Arlt's syndrome: a contagious eye infection caused by Chlamydia trachomatis.
• Arlt's operation: transplantation of eyelashes back from the edge of the eyelid for treatment of distichiasis.
• von Arlt's line: scarring present in trachoma.

[edit] Reference

• Who Named It?; Carl Ferdinand von Arlt