California ophthalmologist has mummy case all wrapped up

The eyes were being saved for examination by an expert, and a UC Davis School of Medicine professor was up to the task.

By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. Nov. 21, 2005.

William C. Lloyd III, MD, and his colleagues joked about being Indiana Jones and dressing up like the movie explorer. After all, it's not every day that doctors get to examine the eyes of mummies.

But that's what Dr. Lloyd and other researchers did last month when the California ophthalmologist dissected and assessed the eyes of two North Chilean mummies who lived 750 and 1,000 years ago.

Most mummies have well-preserved eyes, and these orbs arrived via FedEx in a tiny yellow box once used for photo slides. Not exactly a "Raiders of the Lost Ark" image of buried tombs and ancient artifacts, but still a rare chance to explore a part of the past.

"One of [the eyes] looked like a Cheez Doodle," said Dr. Lloyd, a professor of ophthalmology and pathology at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine. Both were as light as a couple of potato chips, he said.

Huck Holz, MD, chief resident in the UC Davis Dept. of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, read an article in the May 16 New Yorker about Arthur Aufderheide, MD, a well-known paleopathologist and a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School, and brought it to Dr. Lloyd's attention. Dr. Aufderheide salvages mummy organs and tissues from around the world and was saving the eyes for the right expert. Dr. Lloyd convinced Dr. Aufderheide that he was the person for the job.