Phthisis is an ancient Greek medical term for wasting diseases, now commonly used to describe tuberculosis or eye atrophy. Phthisis pulmonalis is another name for pulmonary tuberculosis, which is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and requires a long course of antibiotics. Phthisis bulbi describes the shrunken appearance of an eye that has worn away due to disease or injury, with no treatment available once the eyeball has atrophied.
The word phthisis, pronounced “TIE-sis,” is an ancient Greek medical term that was used to describe any disease whose primary symptom was atrophy or wasting of some kind. While historically, the term has been applied to a disease that caused wasting anywhere in the body, it is much less all-encompassing in modern Western medicine. Now, it’s commonly used only in reference to tuberculosis or eye atrophy. Use of the term is also rare in the context of tuberculosis, however, and its most common use is now to describe atrophy of the eye.
Phthisis pulmonalis is another name for pulmonary tuberculosis. Throughout history, tuberculosis has also been referred to as wasting, scrofula, wasting disease, the white plague, and kings disease. In the latter case, the name was applied because of an 11th-century belief that a person with the disease could be cured if touched by Edward the Confessor, the English Anglo-Saxon king of that period.
In modern times, the disease is known simply as tuberculosis. This sometimes fatal lung infection is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is commonly spread through contact with the bacteria, which is sneezed or passed by someone with the disease. Symptoms include chronic cough, weight loss, fever, and night sweats; many people also pass bloody sputum from deep within their lungs. Treatment requires courses of multiple antibiotics and is often time-consuming to cure, with patients taking medications for six to 12 months.
Phthisis bulbi describes the shrunken appearance of an eye that has worn away due to eye disease or injury. A wasted eye usually doesn’t work. This condition can develop as a result of a number of different injuries or illnesses, including serious infection or inflammation, radiation, retinoblastoma cancer, and chronic retinal detachment. The eye may become scarred or have an abnormal shape and eventually the entire eyeball atrophies, with the patient no longer being able to see outside.
There is no treatment for this eye condition. Once the eyeball has atrophied to this point, nothing can save even the partial vision in the eye. If it is chronically painful, the eye may be removed and replaced with a prosthetic eye. It can also be replaced for cosmetic reasons, as the atrophied eyeball is misshapen and can also cause changes to the eye socket itself.
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