On 19 December 1637, at 73 years of age, Galileo became blind but, starting from 40 years of age he had suffered from diffuse, severe arthritis. It is possible that the blindness was caused by a long standing uveitis with secondary pupillary block glaucoma, common in sero-negative arthropathies. Posterior scleritis with secondary glaucoma is less likely. Probably the disease was triggered by a well-documented, severe, acute illness during his youth, which caused recurrent conjunctival inflammations. The intermittent nature of the visual loss, the presence of halos and the high level of visual acuity between attacks and its persistence until the last weeks of vision means that angle-closure glaucoma could be possible. Different diagnoses, at present based only on the patographic data, could be confirmed or refuted by a direct paleopathological study of his remains.
Le malattie di Galileo
FORNACIARI, GINO
2016-01-01
Abstract
On 19 December 1637, at 73 years of age, Galileo became blind but, starting from 40 years of age he had suffered from diffuse, severe arthritis. It is possible that the blindness was caused by a long standing uveitis with secondary pupillary block glaucoma, common in sero-negative arthropathies. Posterior scleritis with secondary glaucoma is less likely. Probably the disease was triggered by a well-documented, severe, acute illness during his youth, which caused recurrent conjunctival inflammations. The intermittent nature of the visual loss, the presence of halos and the high level of visual acuity between attacks and its persistence until the last weeks of vision means that angle-closure glaucoma could be possible. Different diagnoses, at present based only on the patographic data, could be confirmed or refuted by a direct paleopathological study of his remains.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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GALILEO Paralleli e Meridiani 10_02_2016.doc
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