Karl Koller (ophthalmologist)

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Karl Koller
Karl Koller
Born	(1857-12-03)December 3, 1857 Sušice, Bohemia, Austrian Empire
Died	March 21, 1944(1944-03-21) (aged 86) New York City, United States
Nationality	Austrian
Known for	Cocaine as a local anaesthetic
Scientific career
Fields	Ophthalmology

Karl Koller (December 3, 1857 – March 21, 1944) was an Austrian ophthalmologist. He began his medical career as a surgeon at the Vienna General Hospital and 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 lidocaine have replaced cocaine as a local anaesthetic.

In 1888, Karl Koller 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 D. Leake. Leake recovered his sight and, as an adult, 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.

• Gustav Gärtner

• Diamant, H. (November 1996). "Should they have got the Nobel Prize?". Adler Museum Bulletin. 22 (3). South Africa: 18–20. ISSN 0379-6531. PMID 11619791.
• Wyklicky, H. (May 1985). "100 years of local anesthesia". Wiener klinische Wochenschrift. 97 (10). Austria: 449–450. ISSN 0043-5325. PMID 3892931.
• Gunther, B. (November 1984). "Karl Koller: centennial of the discovery of local analgesia (1884)". Revista Médica de Chile. 112 (11). Chile: 1181–1185. ISSN 0034-9887. PMID 6399393.
• Németh, L. (October 1979). "Károly Pius Koller (1904–1979)". Orvosi Hetilap. 120 (42). Hungary: 2566. ISSN 0030-6002. PMID 394086.
• Honegger, H.; Hessler, H. (October 1970). "The discovery of local anesthesia. II. The friendship between Karl Koller and Sigmund Freud". Klinische Monatsblätter für Augenheilkunde. 157 (4). West Germany: 569–578. ISSN 0023-2165. PMID 4921654.
• Honegger, H.; Hessler, H. (September 1970). "Discovery of local anesthesia by Karl Koller. I". Klinische Monatsblätter für Augenheilkunde. 157 (3). West Germany: 428–438. ISSN 0023-2165. PMID 4922411.
• Pillat, A. (May 1958). "The 100th anniversary of Dr. Karl Koller's birth". Wiener klinische Wochenschrift. 70 (21): 381. ISSN 0043-5325. PMID 13570066.
• Robinson, Victor (October 1947). "Victory over Pain, a History of Anaesthesia". Bulletin of the Medical Library Association. 35 (4): 246–256. PMC 194689.

• Koller and Cocaine
• Was Dr. Carl Koller driven from Vienna in 1885?