Karl Koller (ophthalmologist)

Infobox Scientist
name = Karl Koller (ophthalmologist)
box_width =


image_size =150px
caption = Karl Koller (ophthalmologist)
birth_date = December 3, 1857
birth_place = Schüttenhofen, Bohemia
death_date = March 21, 1944
death_place =
residence = |citizenship =
nationality = Austria
ethnicity =
field = ophthalmology
work_institutions =
alma_mater =
doctoral_advisor =
doctoral_students =
known_for = cocaine as a local anaesthetic
author_abbrev_bot =|author_abbrev_zoo =
influences = Sigmund Freud
influenced =
prizes =
religion = |footnotes = |

Karl Koller (born December 3, 1857 in Schüttenhofen, Bohemia (now Susice, Czech Republic) died March 21, 1944 in New York, New York.) was an Austrian ophthalmologist who began his medical career as a surgeon at the Vienna General Hospital, and was a colleague of Sigmund Freud.

Koller introduced cocaine as a local anaesthetic for eye surgery. Prior to this discovery, he had tested solutions such as chloral hydrate and morphine as anaesthetics in the eyes of laboratory animals without success. Freud was fully aware of the pain-killing properties of cocaine, but Koller recognized its tissue-numbing capabilities, and in 1884 demonstrated its potential as a local anaesthetic to the medical community. Koller's findings were a medical breakthrough. Prior to his discovery, performing eye surgery was difficult because the involuntary reflex motions of the eye to respond to the slightest stimuli. Later, cocaine was also used as a local anaesthetic in other medical fields such as dentistry. In the 20th century, other agents such as Xylocaine have replaced cocaine as a local anaesthetic.

In 1888, Karl Kohler moved to the United States and practiced ophthalmology in New York. He received many distinctions in his career, including being honored by the American Ophthalmological Society as the first recipient of the "Lucien Howe Medal" in 1922. This award is given to physicians in recognition of outstanding achievements in ophthalmology. In 1930 he was also honored by the Medical Association of Vienna.

One of Koller's patients was a blind ten-year-old boy named Chauncey Leake. Leake recovered his sight and later discovered the anaesthetic divinyl ether.

Koller was reputedly nicknamed "Coca Koller" for his association with the drug and although he was implored to recognise his status as a public figure due to his discovery of local anaesthesia, he did not engage in autobiography.

References

*cite journal
quotes = yes
last=Diamant
first=H
authorlink=
year=1996|month=Nov.
title=Should they have got the Nobel Prize?
journal=Adler Museum bulletin
volume=22
issue=3
pages=18-20
publisher= |location = SOUTH AFRICA| issn = 0379-6531| pmid = 11619791
bibcode = | oclc =| id = | url = | language = | format = | accessdate = | laysummary = | laysource = | laydate = | quote =
*cite journal
quotes = yes
last=Wyklicky
first=H
authorlink=
year=1985|month=May.
title= [100 years of local anesthesia]
journal=Wien. Klin. Wochenschr.
volume=97
issue=10
pages=449-50
publisher= |location = AUSTRIA| issn = 0043-5325| pmid = 3892931
bibcode = | oclc =| id = | url = | language = | format = | accessdate = | laysummary = | laysource = | laydate = | quote =
*cite journal
quotes = yes
last=Gunther
first=B
authorlink=
year=1984|month=Nov.
title= [Karl Koller: centennial of the discovery of local analgesia (1884)]
journal=Revista médica de Chile
volume=112
issue=11
pages=1181-5
publisher= |location = CHILE| issn = 0034-9887| pmid = 6399393
bibcode = | oclc =| id = | url = | language = | format = | accessdate = | laysummary = | laysource = | laydate = | quote =
*cite journal
quotes = yes
last=Németh
first=L
authorlink=
year=1979|month=Oct.
title= [Károly Pius Koller (1904-1979)]
journal=Orvosi hetilap
volume=120
issue=42
pages=2566
publisher= |location = HUNGARY| issn = 0030-6002| pmid = 394086
bibcode = | oclc =| id = | url = | language = | format = | accessdate = | laysummary = | laysource = | laydate = | quote =
*cite journal
quotes = yes
last=Honegger
first=H
authorlink=
coauthors=Hessler H
year=1970|month=Oct.
title= [The discovery of local anesthesia. II. The friendship between Karl Koller and Sigmund Freud]
journal=Klinische Monatsblätter für Augenheilkunde
volume=157
issue=4
pages=569-78
publisher= |location = GERMANY, WEST| issn = 0023-2165| pmid = 4921654
bibcode = | oclc =| id = | url = | language = | format = | accessdate = | laysummary = | laysource = | laydate = | quote =
*cite journal
quotes = yes
last=Honegger
first=H
authorlink=
coauthors=Hessler H
year=1970|month=Sep.
title= [Discovery of local anesthesia by Karl Koller. I]
journal=Klinische Monatsblätter für Augenheilkunde
volume=157
issue=3
pages=428-38
publisher= |location = GERMANY, WEST| issn = 0023-2165| pmid = 4922411
bibcode = | oclc =| id = | url = | language = | format = | accessdate = | laysummary = | laysource = | laydate = | quote =
*cite journal
quotes = yes
last=PILLAT
first=A
authorlink=
year=1958|month=May.
title= [The 100th anniversary of Dr. Karl Koller's birth.]
journal=Wien. Klin. Wochenschr.
volume=70
issue=21
pages=381
publisher= |location = Not Available| issn = 0043-5325| pmid = 13570066
bibcode = | oclc =| id = | url = | language = | format = | accessdate = | laysummary = | laysource = | laydate = | quote =

External links

* [http://www.cocaine.org/karl-koller/index.html Koller and Cocaine]
* [http://www.cocaine.org/karl-koller/life.html Was Dr. Carl Koller driven from Vienna in 1885?]

"Victory Over Pain-A History of Anaesthesia" by Victor Robinson p246-256