Otto Haab (19 April 1850 – 17 October 1931) was a Swiss

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

who was a native of Wülflingen, which today is a district in the city of

Winterthur Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...

. In 1875, he obtained his doctorate from the

University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

, where, as a student, he was an assistant to

Karl Joseph Eberth Karl Joseph Eberth (21 September 1835 – 2 December 1926) was a German pathologist and bacteriologist who was a native of Würzburg. Biography In 1859 he earned his doctorate at the University of Würzburg, and became an assistant to anatomis ...

pathological anatomy Anatomical pathology (''Commonwealth'') or anatomic pathology (''U.S.'') is a medical specialty that is concerned with the diagnosis of disease based on the gross examination, macroscopic, Histopathology, microscopic, biochemical, immu ...

. In 1886, he succeeded

Johann Friedrich Horner Johann Friedrich Horner (27 March 1831 – 20 December 1886) was an ophthalmologist based at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. Biography Horner was born in Zurich. After receiving his medical degree from the University of Zurich in 185 ...

as professor of ophthalmology at

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, a position he held until 1919. Otto Haab made contributions involving pathological

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

of the eye, as well as in treatment of eye-related

lesion A lesion is any damage or abnormal change in the tissue of an organism, usually caused by injury or diseases. The term ''Lesion'' is derived from the Latin meaning "injury". Lesions may occur in both plants and animals. Types There is no de ...

s. In 1885 he clinically described what he called senile macular disease, today known as senile or age-related

macular degeneration Macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD), is a medical condition which may result in blurred vision, blurred or vision loss, no vision in the center of the visual field. Early on there are often no sym ...

(AMD), and investigated the

atrophic Atrophy is the partial or complete wasting away of a part of the body. Causes of atrophy include mutations (which can destroy the gene to build up the organ), poor nourishment, poor circulation, loss of hormonal support, loss of nerve supply t ...

and pigmentary changes in the

macula The macula (/ˈmakjʊlə/) or macula lutea is an oval-shaped pigmented area in the center of the retina of the human eye and in other animals. The macula in humans has a diameter of around and is subdivided into the umbo, foveola, foveal avas ...

r region of the eye associated with the condition. His name is associated with several medical eponyms, that include: "Haab's reflex", which is another name for

pupillary light reflex The pupillary light reflex (PLR) or photopupillary reflex is a reflex that controls the diameter of the pupil, in response to the intensity ( luminance) of light that falls on the retinal ganglion cells of the retina in the back of the eye, t ...

, and "Haab's magnet", a powerful

magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...

used for removing metallic particles from the eye. Also, the "Haab scale" is a device used to measure

pupil The pupil is a hole located in the center of the iris of the eye that allows light to strike the retina.Cassin, B. and Solomon, S. (1990) ''Dictionary of Eye Terminology''. Gainesville, Florida: Triad Publishing Company. It appears black becau ...

lary diameter, and "

Haab's striae Haab's striae, or Descemet's tears, are horizontal breaks in the Descemet membrane associated with congenital glaucoma Primary congenital glaucoma is a rare eye condition that is present at birth or develops early in childhood. It occurs due to i ...

" are horizontal breaks in the

Descemet membrane Descemet's membrane ( or the Descemet membrane) is the basement membrane that lies between the corneal proper substance, also called stroma, and the endothelial layer of the cornea. It is composed of different kinds of collagen (Type IV and VIII ...

associated with

congenital glaucoma Primary congenital glaucoma is a rare eye condition that is present at birth or develops early in childhood. It occurs due to improper drainage of the eye's fluids, which leads to increased pressure inside the eye, known as intraocular pressure. Th ...

Selected publications

*''Atlas und Grundriss der Ophthalmoskopie und ophthalmoskopischen Diagnostik''

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, 1895. (5th edition, 1908; translated into English and French). *''Atlas der äusseren Erkrankugen des Auges nebst Grundriss ihrer Pathologie und Therapie'' Munich, 1899. (4th edition, 1910; translated into English and French). *''Atlas und Grundriss der Lehre von den Augenoperationen'' Munich, 1904. (2nd edition, 1920; translated into English and French).

References

Ophthalmology Hall of Fame
(biography of Otto Haab) *

External links

* Swiss ophthalmologists 1850 births 1931 deaths Academic staff of the University of Zurich University of Zurich alumni People from Winterthur District {{Switzerland-med-bio-stub