EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/78721
10 EW NEWS & OPINION Remembering continued from page 3 educated at Harrow and studied medicine at Trinity College Dublin. After medical school he trained at the Adelaide Hospital and the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, Dublin, before moving to Moorfields Eye Hospital to pursue his chosen specialty of ophthalmology in 1959. While at Moorfields he worked with Sir Harold Ridley, the inventor of the intraocular lens; not only did Sir Harold Ridley's still controversial work on lenses inspire him, but it led to a lifelong friendship. After completing his training at Univer- sity College Hospital, he was ap- pointed as a consultant first to the Royal Eye Hospital and then in 1965 to Charing Cross Hospital, then still in the Strand. In 1973 the hospital moved to its current site in Fulham. Dr. Arnott was responsible for set- ting up the ophthalmic surgical serv- ices. In 1974, the year after the hospital moved to Fulham Palace Road, Dr. Arnott organized the first live ophthalmic microsurgical sym- posium where 10 of the world's top eye surgeons performed live surgery, relayed to over 300 international delegates, courtesy of the BBC. This novel concept in advanced surgical teaching was to set a standard for fu- ture surgical conferences and was widely reported in the international press. He organized two other equally successful live symposia, which helped to bring new ideas in cataract surgery to a wider audience. In 1976, Dr. Arnott, having been Your ASCRS membership now lets you take the ASCRS Symposium home. With the new ASCRS MediaCenter all the highlights of ASCRS 2011 are now right on your computer. Films, papers and posters exactly as they were presented in an easy-to-use and fully-searchable format. See what you missed or re-visit what you liked most. Search by topic, presenter or key-word. It's the best of ASCRS without leaving home. Log in at www.ascrs.org and click on ASCRS MediaCenter in the left-hand column for complete access. Make your ASCRS membership work harder! Begin learning today! influenced by Sir Harold Ridley's work on lens implantation, designed one of the first intraocular lenses to be positioned behind the iris, the normal position of the natural lens. All lenses at this time were im- planted in front of the iris and many of them caused severe ocular prob- lems, hence why their use was very limited. He followed this up with several other designs before invent- ing "the all encircling loop" lens, which he patented. This lens main- tained an excellent position within the eye and over 2 million were im- planted around the world during the 80s and 90s. Although all of Dr. Arnott's marketed lenses were made of polymethyl methacrylate, he and his then senior registrar at Charing Cross Hospital, Richard Packard, were the first to describe in 1981 the use of a soft lens material that could be folded to go through a small inci- sion. Dr. Arnott was very early in rec- ognizing the new trend of laser re- fractive surgery. He acquired one of the first excimer lasers for the Cromwell Hospital in 1991, where he had already created a satellite subsidiary of the Arnott Eye Centre, a unique multidisciplinary oph- thalmic private practice. Ophthal- mologists of differing subspecialties worked together to give patients ac- cess to experts in all aspects of dis- eases of the eye. This still exists and bears his name as Arnott Eye Associ- ates on Harley Street. It became a magnet for patients from across the world, many of whom had failed surgery elsewhere. He retired from practice in 1999 to write his mem- oirs, A New Beginning in Sight. India had always fascinated Dr. Arnott, and he went there many times. He was awarded an honorary professorship by the University of Indore and raised money for a fully equipped mobile operating theatre to tour rural areas and carry out modern cataract surgery. Dr. Arnott, in 1960, married Veronica (neé Langué) who prede- ceased him in 2001. He is survived by two sons and one daughter. He died on December 1, 2011, after a long illness. EW January 2012