An interesting historical introduction captures the reader’s attention as the journey begins into exploring the peculiarities and pathologies of ‘dura tunica of Vesalius’, a term coined by anatomists of the middle ages. This refers to what we today identify as the opaque collagenous coat of the eye called the sclera. The book delves into the comparative anatomy, physiology cellular biochemistry and immuno-cytology of sclera.
Apart from the basic essentials we interestingly learn that sclera is only present in the vertebrates, and throughout this class there are myriads of structural variations ranging from membranous to bony. Among the primates only humans have a white and maximally exposed sclera. Scleral topography, useful for the fitting of rigid gas permeable lenses is described.
The book then moves on to talk about the clinical assessment of the eye and the joints in scleral and episcleral disease. Scleritis in relation to and systemic, metabolic and genetic disorders is discussed and the use of investigative armamentarium is highlighted. A chapter is dedicated to scleral changes associated with myopia and the subsequent chapter discusses miscellaneous scleral affections of injury, damage, degeneration and tumours. The last chapter highlights the different treatment modalities for scleral diseases in detail.
The book is comprehensive. The information is well complemented by photographs and supplemented with tables and flowcharts.
The target audience of this book are the ophthalmologists, rheumatologists and physicians managing connective tissue diseases. This book would be a valuable asset to reference libraries and any hospital in-house ophthalmic, departmental bookshelf.
