INTERPRETATION OF IRIS-SIGNS: B. FORM OF IRIS-SIGNS

Iris signs, from which a disease state can be diagnosed, are differentiated

(a) By their colour

(b) By their shape

The shape of iris-signs varies considerably, and in the early stages of study easily produces difficulties of interpretation. I will here attempt to write fully and exhaustively on the description of each type.

1. Lines: One has to differentiate white and dark lines; short, long and zigzag lines. Short white lines are usually found lying in contiguity one with another, and are signs of inflammation affecting the organs concerned. Long white lines are those which are not limited to one organ area, but run over several areas. They are indications of neuritis with pain, or of neuralgia. They begin in the iris-wreath, or even at the pupillary margin, and run towards the outer border. If these lines run in zigzag fashion, the patient will be found to complain of cramp-like pains. Such a zigzag line in the heart area is the sign of a cardiac neurosis (or irritable heart = D.A.H.). The patient will complain of the occurrence at times of severe palpitations. If one finds in the point of a zigzag line small black dots, then a danger of paralysis of the affected organ is indicated. (Nerve paralysis.)

Dark lines in an organ area are indications of nervous weakness.

2. Flakes and Clouds: These are always white to yellow-white. They appear as signs of an acute or chronic inflammation of the mucuous membranes (catarrh). The signs are usually seen in the form of small flakes directly around the pupil (inflammation of the gastric mucous membranes), or in the form of larger flakes or clouds in the mucous membrane zone (Minor zone 5), in the sectors for lungs, thorax, peritoneum, frontal sinus, etc.

3. Wisps: can be white, yellowish or dark. They are larger than clouds and flakes, and not so intensely indicated. They take in the entire organ area (e.g. as in uterine catarrh), or an entire zone (e.g. the muscle zone in general muscular rheumatism). White wisps are signs of an extensive tissue-inflammation.

Dark wisps appear when the indicated organ has become weak in reaction (often observed in the area for uterus). White wisps become yellowish in the transition to the chronic state, and in the course of time even brown. They appear as brownish or brown depositions in the superficial iris layer, and largely conceal the true basic colour of the iris. There are irides which are almost completely covered with this brownish deposit, and patients with such irides are persons who incline to stiffness and gout. In such cases the predisposition is hereditary, but these brown deposits are also to be seen as such in acquired conditions.

4. Lacunae: signs of weakness. Lacunae appear wherever the iris fibres diverge in small or large arcs and thus expose the second darker iris layer. They are indications of organic weakness. One must differentiate:

(a) Open lacunae—when the iris fibres do not again converge towards the outer iris rim and join up. These signs signify that the defect is still in the early stages, not yet closed, and that therapeutics have yet to influence it.

(b) Closed lacunae, when the iris fibres reunite towards the outer rim of the iris, thus forming an oval sign. A closed lacuna is the sign of a completed disease process. Closed lacunae may be acquired, as well as inherited.

There are many variously shaped lacunae, which all have a special meaning. Angerer and Schnabel have written on them in great detail.

5. Honeycomb signs: are lacunae in which small white lines provide a honeycomb appearance by running lengthwise and across within the lacunae. These indications suggest contraction of the organ (atrophy), with hardening and scar-tissue formation.

6. Black dots: and also oblong or jagged small black lines, suggest tissue-disintegration, loss of substance, ulcers. Where ulcers are healed, a fine white line surrounds the black sign—the

so-called healing ring.

7. Transverse signs: or ‘adhesion’ signs, are very fine white lines which run obliquely across the iris structures. They are also referred to as ‘cobweb’ signs. They are indications of adhesions and agglutinations, and are often found in the pleural area and in the caecal area. If the transverse signs are covered with a small white cloud, then an acute inflammation is indicated, and the patient complains of pain.

8. Radii Solaris: are radiating furrows in the iris tissues which are wider at the base and taper towards the outer rim. They can commence either at the pupillary margin or at the iris-wreath, and radiate towards the scurf rim. If one is seen in the brain area, then as pointed out by Angerer, a cerebral weakness is indicated. If appearing somewhere in the remaining iris area, it indicates that the organ in which sector it appears is affected by nerve weakness.

9. Wedge signs: are small black signs which are directed with their bases towards the

iris-wreath. If such a sign is seen in the heart area, then the possibility of sudden death occurring must be considered. If appearing in the kidney areas, then a condition of contracted kidneys is indicated.

10. Contraction rings (Nerve rings)—earlier called ‘Cramp-rings’—are concentric interruptions of the iris fibres which are especially seen in the second and third major zones. Three or four of these rings are often to be seen lying next to one another. They indicate circulatory disturbances in the tissue, and disturbance of lime metabolism. Interruptions in the continuity of the nerve ring indicate cramp-like pains in the organ sector concerned (gall-bladder, uterus, heart, legs, etc.).

With these contraction rings one must also consider the zone in which they appear. If they lie in the blood zone, then there will be disturbances in the large blood and lymph vessels. If they lie in the bone and skin zones, then one must expect to find disturbances in these organ systems.

11. Local dilatations and contractions of the iris-wreath and the intestinal zone. Contraction of the iris-wreath towards the pupil signifies a pressure or compression from outside affecting the intestine, e.g. from a tumour or swollen or displaced organ. Dilatation of the iris-wreath in round arcs, suggests a flabby state of the intestines. Pointed and jagged dilatations suggest colicky pains.

12. Dark skin zone: indicates a suppressed excretion. A milky-white scurf rim (arcus senilis) is a sign of arteriosclerosis.

13. Signs of death: imminent:

(a) A black wedge-sign in the heart area

(b) Completely solid black scurf rim

14. Besides the iris signs described, one must also consider whether the iris rim displays a normal circular form. In severe organic diseases the iris rim is flattened in the appropriate organ area. Pupillary deformations are also of great diagnostic importance. I would here refer to the very informative work of Schnabel: Ophthalmo-Symptomatology.

*11\78\2*

Share and Enjoy: