OVGU - History of the Eye Clinic

History of the Eye Clinic

Romeick In 1930, the Eye Clinic was founded at the Sudenburg Hospital Magdeburg on the basis of a decision of the Magistrate. Its first director was Dr. F. Romeick (Figure 1.), who headed the clinic from 1930 to 1950. Initially, a joint eye and ENT clinic existed until 1945, which was located in pavilion IX (now house 9 ENT clinic). At the time of its foundation, the Eye Clinic had 45 beds and from 1950 to 1956, Dr. Wilhelm was the director of the Eye Clinic. During this time the clinic moved from house 9 to the east wing of house 14 (former Müllersches Siechenhaus).

Müller The relocation of the eye clinic involved an increase in the number of beds to 68 and modernisation of the clinic. In autumn 1954, the "Medical Academy Magdeburg" was founded. Dr. Wilhelm retired as head physician in 1956.

Heyd The appointment of the chair, marked the beginning of a new phase in the development of the Eye Clinic, which was particularly characterized by the establishment of new departments and scientific laboratories. First of all, a pathohistological laboratory was established in 1957. In 1958, the School of Vision began its work. In 1959, a laboratory for physiological-optical examinations was established and in 1960, a dispensary department for glaucoma patients was opened in the Polyclinic. In 1966, Prof. Dr. A. Heydenreich was appointed full professor at the Jena University Eye Clinic.

After the appointment of Prof. Heydenreich to Jena, Prof. Dr. H.-G. Gießmann (Fig. 4.) was appointed to the Chair of Ophthalmology in Magdeburg on September 1, 1966, and appointed director of the clinic. In the years 1968 to 1972, the clinic was renovated. An extension was made, in which a new operating room and the library were integrated. The Department of Physiological optics was expanded and the Department of Electroretinography was rebuilt. After the renovation, the clinic then had 3 wards with 73 beds, an operating wing and an outpatient clinic with 4 treatment rooms. In 1968 microsurgical operation methods were introduced and further developed. Prof. Dr. H.-G. Gießmann headed the eye clinic until his retirement in 1987.

Subsequently, Prof. Dr. H.-W. Schlote took over the management of the clinic until 1992. The clinic was renovated and the construction of a new surgical wing was initiated. Professor Schlote worked as the head physician of the Eye Clinic Chemnitz (with 116 beds, one of the largest eye clinics in the former GDR) and for several years in development aid in the former People's Republic of Congo until he was appointed full professor of ophthalmology and director of the Eye Clinic of the Medical Academy Magdeburg. Under Prof. Schlote, phacoemulsification was introduced into clinical routine as well as vitrectomy.

bb_sw In 1992, Prof. Dr. W. Behrens - Baumann (Figure 6.), who previously worked as a senior consultant at the University Eye Clinic in Göttingen, became the director of the Eye Clinic of the "Otto-von Guericke University" Magdeburg. From 1991 to 1998, the entire eye clinic was rebuilt and modernized. Firstly, a new operating wing, consisting of two operating rooms equipped with the latest technology, was put in the new wing of the building. Secondly, this was followed by the renovation of the wards, the outpatient clinic, the attic and basement with the laboratories and work rooms as well as the staircase. The patient rooms were equipped with modern sanitary facilities, television and telephone connections. The number of beds on the three wards were reduced, but the number of operations increased.

The following procedures cover the entire spectrum of ophthalmological procedures including vitreoretinal surgery (pars plana vitrectomy with subretinal surgery and retino- and ectomies), cataract surgery including multifocal lens implantation, glaucoma and eyelid surgery as well as additional refractive procedures such as myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism correction using excimer laser. Due to the development of surgical techniques, outpatient cataract operations are also performed, among others. In 1998, the clinic performed about 2000 inpatient and about 14 000 outpatient treatments.

Still under the direction of Prof. Behrens-Baumann, the eye clinic moved again in September 2004, this time to the prominent new building on Leipziger Strasse. Since then, House 60B has housed the polyclinic as well as the inpatient area with 42 flat beds, various special facilities (e.g. vision school, laboratory for the visually impaired, contact lens department) and a state-of-the-art functional department covering all current examination procedures. The two operating rooms of the eye clinic are embedded in the centrally located operating wing of the sister building (Building 60A).

Professor Behrens-Baumann headed the Eye Clinic until his retirement in June 2011.

walter From July 2011 to November 2012, Dr. Sven Walter took over the provisional management of the University Eye Hospital. After the new appointment of Prof. Thieme, he continued on as the senior physician in charge of the clinic.

thieme Prof. Dr. Hagen Thieme is the new director of the University Eye Hospital Magdeburg as of 01.12.2012. Prof. Thieme, born in 1964, studied human medicine at the Free University of Berlin until 1995. As a DAAD scholarship holder, he worked at the Joslin Diabetes Centre and the Eye Clinic of the Harvard School in Boston, USA, from 1993 to 1994 during his medical training. After his state examination, he first worked as an intern (AIP) at the Eye Clinic of the Free University (FU) in Berlin and then as a research assistant at the Institute of Clinical Physiology of the FU. In 2001, Prof. Thieme took over a medical position at the Eye Clinic of the Charité University Medicine Berlin. In 2005, he was appointed senior physician and moved to the University Eye Clinic Mainz in the same year. Until his appointment to the W3 professorship for ophthalmology at the Otto-von-Guericke University, he was a senior physician and deputy director of the clinic. He also completed an additional qualification in Master of Health and Business Administration while working.

In addition to many years of comprehensive experience in the entire spectrum of diagnostics and treatment of eye diseases, Prof. Thieme specialized in his clinical activities in glaucoma surgery, retinal surgery, trabeculectomy and lens implantation for a spectrum of patients of all ages. In recent years, he has placed a special emphasis on the treatment of glaucoma (green star), especially in young patients. Prof. Thieme is involved in this field, among other things, as a member of the board of the Glaucoma Section of the German Ophthalmological Society (DOG) and is active in the nationwide self-help initiative "Glaucoma in Children", in order to educate medical colleagues, midwives and health care facilities and to sensitize the public to symptoms of this disease in newborns. He would like to continue this work in his new position and intensify it in the context of events and campaigns in Saxony-Anhalt.

Prof. Thieme's professional competence in his previous operative activities was also highly recognized by the fact that the University Eye Clinic Mainz was named one of six reference centers in Germany for minimally invasive microincision cataract surgery (so-called MICS technique). This technique enables cataract surgery through openings of only 1.4mm width and has now been more firmly established in Magdeburg thanks to the newly appointed professor.

His research focuses on glaucoma pharmacology (clinical and experimental) and glaucoma surgery (clinical and experimental). This also includes his commitment to interdisciplinary materials research in eye surgery.