A Controversial Episode in the History of Artificial Cornea: The First Use of Poly(methyl methacrylate)

Abstract

The introduction of the synthetic plastic poly(methyl methacrylate) as a material for artificial cornea (keratoprosthesis) is usually credited to William Stone, Jr. who allegedly performed the first experiments in 1947 and reported the results in 1953. As this plastic marked a revival in the development of artificial cornea, it is important to establish who was the first to use it and actually deserves the credit. This study demonstrates that at least three other ophthalmic surgeons (Wünsche in Germany, Franceschetti in Switzerland, and Györffy in Hungary) performed trials with keratoprostheses made from poly(methyl methacrylate) and published their results prior to Stone, Jr.