Remembering Eric John Arnott, B.M., B.Ch., B.A.O., D.O., F.R.C.S., F.R.C.Ophth.

June 12, 1929 – December 1, 2011

Dr. Arnott and his wife, Veronica

Eric Arnott was a combination of establishment doyen and visionary innovator prepared to challenge accepted medical opinion. He was one of the first ophthalmic surgeons to recognize in the work of Charles Kelman, the inventor of phacoemulsification, a new approach to cataract surgery that heralded the dawn of small-incision surgery. Dr. Kelman had found a method of removing the cataract through an incision of 3.5 mm compared to the 12 mm required for most surgery at the time. This meant that patients no longer had to lay in bed for 2 weeks after their surgery with all movement restricted. In 1971, Dr. Arnott went to the U.S. and attended one of Dr. Kelman's first courses. Upon returning to England, he raised the money to buy the very expensive equipment needed. When he started performing this surgery, it raised a storm of protest amongst his colleagues, but Dr. Arnott carried on undeterred and until 1977 was one of only a handful of surgeons to practice and teach this procedure outside the U.S. The early machines for this minimally invasive surgery were crude by comparison with modern methods; nonetheless it was the beginning of a trend. Today almost all cataract surgery is carried out using a variation of the technique Dr. Arnott was instrumental in helping to pioneer. Dr. Arnott was born on June 12, 1929, in Sunningdale, Berkshire, the second son of Sir Robert Arnott Bt. The family was an important part of the Anglo-Irish establishment, owning Arnotts Stores, the Irish Times, and Phoenix Park racecourse. He was educated at Harrow and studied medicine at Trinity College Dublin. After medical school he trained at the Adelaide Hospital and the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, Dublin, before moving to Moorfields Eye Hospital to pursue his chosen specialty of ophthalmology in 1959. While at Moorfields he worked with Sir Harold Ridley, the inventor of the intraocular lens; not only did Sir Harold Ridley's still controversial work on lenses inspire him, but it led to a lifelong friendship. After completing his training at University College Hospital, he was appointed as a consultant first to the Royal Eye Hospital and then in 1965 to Charing Cross Hospital, then still in the Strand. In 1973 the hospital moved to its current site in Fulham. Dr. Arnott was responsible for setting up the ophthalmic surgical services. In 1974, the year after the hospital moved to Fulham Palace Road, Dr. Arnott organized the first live ophthalmic microsurgical symposium where 10 of the world's top eye surgeons performed live surgery, relayed to over 300 international delegates, courtesy of the BBC. This novel concept in advanced surgical teaching was to set a standard for future surgical conferences and was widely reported in the international press. He organized two other equally successful live symposia, which helped to bring new ideas in cataract surgery to a wider audience.
In 1976, Dr. Arnott, having been influenced by Sir Harold Ridley's work on lens implantation, designed one of the first intraocular lenses to be positioned behind the iris, the normal position of the natural lens. All lenses at this time were implanted in front of the iris and many of them caused severe ocular problems, hence why their use was very limited. He followed this up with several other designs before inventing "the all encircling loop" lens, which he patented. This lens maintained an excellent position within the eye and over 2 million were implanted around the world during the 80s and 90s. Although all of Dr. Arnott's marketed lenses were made of polymethyl methacrylate, he and his then senior registrar at Charing Cross Hospital, Richard Packard, were the first to describe in 1981 the use of a soft lens material that could be folded to go through a small incision. Dr. Arnott was very early in recognizing the new trend of laser refractive surgery. He acquired one of the first excimer lasers for the Cromwell Hospital in 1991, where he had already created a satellite subsidiary of the Arnott Eye Centre, a unique multidisciplinary ophthalmic private practice. Ophthalmologists of differing subspecialties worked together to give patients access to experts in all aspects of diseases of the eye. This still exists and bears his name as Arnott Eye Associates on Harley Street. It became a magnet for patients from across the world, many of whom had failed surgery elsewhere. He retired from practice in 1999 to write his memoirs, A New Beginning in Sight.
India had always fascinated Dr. Arnott, and he went there many times. He was awarded an honorary professorship by the University of Indore and raised money for a fully equipped mobile operating theatre to tour rural areas and carry out modern cataract surgery.
Dr. Arnott, in 1960, married Veronica (neé Langué) who predeceased him in 2001. He is survived by two sons and one daughter. He died on December 1, 2011, after a long illness.