Karl Koller (ophthalmologist)

Carl Koller and Karl Koller ( born December 3, 1857 in Schüttenhofen, † 22 March 1944 in New York ) was an Austrian ophthalmologist Jewish origin.

Life

Koller worked after his medical studies, among others, Ferdinand von Arlt and Salomon Stricker, at the University Hospital of Vienna. His colleague, Fritz Zinner had one day publicly pejoratively as " Jew " insulted him, whereupon Koller gave him a punch in the face. Then it came, although at that time actually already banned in January 1885 a saber duel, in which Koller was unhurt, but Zinner abbekam two deep wounds. Koller hopes for a good position in the eye department and an academic career in Vienna were so, despite good professional performance, but then. He left Vienna and therefore stayed from 1885 to 1886 in Utrecht, 1888 he held initially in London, he emigrated May 1888 to New York City.

Local anesthesia in ophthalmology

At the suggestion of Sigmund Freud, who discovered the schmerzausschaltene effect of cocaine, he was, like William Stewart Halsted, experiments with cocaine in animals and themselves eye surgery at that time was due to the reflex movements of the eyes to touch a difficult undertaking. Koller discovered that a few drops of cocaine solution eliminated this problem. Koller is considered as the founder of local anesthesia in ophthalmology. Cocaine is today, as it is subject to a strict drug prescribing information, replaced by synthetic local anesthetics.

Koller was nominated several times for the Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine.