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Carl Koller
studied medicine at the University of Vienna. At first Koller’s
interests were in embryology and experimental pathology, but soon
Koller switch to ophthalmology. One of his teachers shared with him
the need for a local anesthetic in eye surgery. Koller, eager to
make a large contribution, experimented with various solutions on
animals, but had no luck.
Koller interned
at the Allgemeines Krankenhaus. He lived on the same floor as
Sigmund Freud, who was also interning. Freud invited Koller to work
with him studying the physiological effects of cocaine. Koller
experimented with cocaine on his own tongue and noticed a numbing
effect. He used cocaine on the eye of a guinea pig and found that
it numbed the area so well that the eye was completely insensitive
to pain. The use of cocaine as a local anesthetic became Koller’s
most important discovery. He would be recognized later in life with
numerous awards.
Due to strong
anti-Semitism in Europe, Koller was not promoted within the medical
field. Consequently, he moved to New York City and became a
renowned surgeon and diagnostician at Mount Sinai Hospital. Koller
had a highly successful clinical practice for 56 years. |
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