[The Pola-test in asthenopia (author's transl)].

Seventy-three patients with asthenopia and 43 control subjects were examined with the Pola-Test. The two populations showed a significantly different frequency of pathologic results on the four test patterns. The so-called "stereo test" seems to be the most important test pattern. Patients with a pathologic stereo pattern reported asthenopic symptoms significantly more frequently than the control subjects who were questioned for similar symptoms. However, since 30% of the asthenopic patients showed normal results on the four Pola-Test patterns, the indication for treatment can be based only on a combined evaluation of binocular tests and asthenopic symptoms. In asthenopia visual and conjunctival symptoms are more prominent than headache. At times they may be masked by psychogenic factors. In a double-blind study on 12 asthenopic patients symptoms improved significantly during treatment with prisms.