Phenylthiocarbamide Taste Testing in Patients With Pigmentary Glaucoma

Thirty-five years ago, the concept of ocular hypertension led to intensive efforts to find tests that might predict which patients would develop glaucomatous visual field loss. One of these tests was the genetically inherited ability to taste the compound phenylthiocarbamide (PTC). Nontasters are considered to be homozygous for a single recessive gene.¹ Extensive literature exists on the ability of various populations to taste this compound and on diseases associated with this trait.