[The pressure tolerance test--a new technic in the differential diagnosis of glaucoma].

There can be a damage of optic nerve fibers without a known increase of intraocular pressure. This observation has led to the proposition to measure the pressure tolerance of the optic nerve head. An examination which is performing this task is feasible now with a recently introduced technique. In this paper clinically well defined borderline cases are presented in which the pressure tolerance test yields clinically valuable results. As shown paradigmatically the pressure tolerance test shows to be a valuable tool in the differential diagnosis of glaucoma.