Erich Seidel

Erich Seidel (1882–1946) was a German ophthalmologist known for his studies in the field of glaucoma, ocular anesthesia and aqueous humor dynamics. Seidel test and Seidel's scotoma are named after him.

Biography Erich Seidel was born on December 30, 1882 in Apolda, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, in the German Empire (today Thuringia, Germany).

He received MD from Jena in 1907 (Topic: über die Lidbildung mittels übertragener stiellser Hautlappen (eyelid formation by means of transferred skin flaps)). In 1935 he was offered to join at the University of Gottingen, but he rejected.

He spent his last days in Jena, in the Soviet occupation zone in Germany. He died on February 26, 1946. In the same year he also described a glaucomatous Visual field defect which is now known as Seidel sign or Seidel's scotoma. In this scotoma the blind spot of the eye enlarges vertically into a sickle cell shape.

In 1921 he described a test to assess the presence of aqueous humor leakage from the anterior chamber of the eye, which is known as Seidel test now.

Selected publications

Seidel E. Beiträge zur Frühdiagnose des Glaukoms. Untersuchungen über das zentrale Gesichtsfeld mit Prüfungsobjekten unter kleinem Gesichtswinkel (Bjerrum). Albrecht von Graefes Archiv für Ophthalmologie. 1914; 88(1): 102-157 Seidel E. Weitere experimentelle Untersuchungen uber die Quelle und den Verlauf der intraokularen Safstromung: XII. Ueber den manometrischen Nachweis des physiologischen Druckgefalles zwischen Voderkammer und Schlemmschem Kanal. Archiv für Ophthalmologie. 1921;107:101-104.

Awards and honours Seidel was awarded with von Graefe-Preis in 1925 by the German Ophthalmological Society.