Johann Friedrich Horner

Biography

• Born in Zurich 27th March 1831
• 1854 – Graduated Medical school – University of Zurich
• 1855 – Studied the use of the ophthalmoscope in Vienna with Eduard Jaeger Ritter von Jaxtthal
• 1856 – Became assistant to Albrecht von Graefe furthering ophthalmology studies
• 1856 – Founded the University of Zurich ophthalmology clinic which then became an independent clinic the ‘Hottinghof’
• 1867 – Introduced regular examinations of the eyes of schoolchildren
• 1862 – Named Professor of Ophthalmology
• 1876 – Horner established that “a man with a red-green colour blindness transmitted this anomaly to his male grandchildren through his daughter who was not colour blind (sex linked transmission)
• Died in Zurich 20th December 1886 aged 55

Key Medical Attributions:

• Horner syndrome (1869) classic triad of ipsilateral ptosis, miosis and anhidrosis (+/- enophthalmos)
• Horner muscle – lacrimal portion of the orbicularis oculi muscle (tensor tarsi muscle)
• Horner-Trantas spots – punctiform yellow-white calcified concretions of the conjunctiva around the corneal limbus associated with vernal keratoconjunctivitis

Major Publications

• Horner JF. Über eine Form von Ptosis. Klinische Monatsblätter für Augenheilkunde 1869;7:193-198 [Horner syndrome]
• Horner, JF. On spectacles: their history and uses. 1887. The Society for the Prevention of Blindness.
• Horner, JF. Die Krankheiten des Auges im Kindesalter. (The diseases of the eye in childhood) 1882.
• Horner, JF. Beiträge zur Ophthalmologie als Festgabe Friedrich Horner: zur Feier des fünfundzwanzigjährigen Jubiläums seiner academischen Lehrthätigkeit gewidmet. (Contributions to ophthalmology Friedrich Horner:25 year anniversary) 1881
• Horner, JF. Ein Lebensbild geschrieben von ihm selbst. (Friedrich Horner autobiography) 1887.
  

References

• Shinohara, H. The anatomy of the lacrimal portion of the orbicularis oculi muscle (tensor tarsi or Horner’s muscle). Okajimas Folia Anat Jpn. 2001 Mar;77(6):225-32 [PMID 11392011]
• Borges, AF. The original Z-plasty. British Journal of Plastic Surgery. 26 (3): 237–246.[JPRAS 1973]
• Koczman, J. Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis. uiowa Eye Rounds 2007. [Internet Archive]