title: The rise and fall of caecanometry.
abstract: Caecanometry was a short-lived visual fields examination technique first described by Ingwold Davidsen, O.D. in 1949. The technique was based upon the unusual premise that the blind spot constricted in size when certain types of infection were present above the level of the shoulder blades. The Davidsen-Wottring caecanometer was patented as a device for plotting blind spot size and shape. Caecanometry was practiced mainly in the southern U.S., dying out in the middle 1970s.
authors.affiliation: College of Optometry, University of Houston, 505 J. Davis Armistead Bldg., Houston, TX 77204-2020, USA. gstephens@uh.edu
authors.forename: Gregory L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Stephens
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Perrigin
mesh_terms: D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D009898:Optic Disk; D009907:Optometry / Q000266:history* / Q000295:instrumentation; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000266:history*; D014794:Visual Fields