Primary angle-closure glaucoma. A review of provocative tests.

A PROVOCATIVE test is one that "calls forth" a particular response under a defined set of conditions. For many years, a rise in intra-ocular pressure has been known to follow various circumstances. In attempts to detect glaucoma before serious eye disease occurred or to assess its control, various provocative tests have been elaborated (Leydhecker and Miller, 1949). Because acute angle-closure glaucoma frequently damages eyes and vision yet may show no obvious evidence of its presence between attacks, and because in favourable circumstances it can be cured by relatively simple surgery, appropriate provocative tests appear highly desirable to facilitate its detection before an all too obvious acute attack develops.