Diagnosis

When you visit an eye specialist (ophthalmologist), he or she will likely conduct a complete eye exam and gather a thorough health history. The eye examination usually involves the following:

• Assessment of vision (with your glasses if you normally wear them) and the response of your pupils to light.
• Tonometry. A tonometry exam measures the pressure inside your eye (intraocular pressure). Numbing eyedrops may be used for this test.
• A slit-lamp examination. A slit lamp is a microscope that magnifies and illuminates the front of your eye with an intense line of light. This evaluation is necessary to identify microscopic inflammatory cells in the front of the eye.
• Ophthalmoscopy. Also known as funduscopy, this exam involves widening (dilating) the pupil with eyedrops and shining a bright light into the eye to examine the back of the eye.

Your doctor may also recommend:

• Color photography of the inside of the eye (retina).
• Optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging. This test measures the thickness of the retina and choroid to reveal inflammation in these layers.
• Fluorescein angiography or indocyanine green angiography. These tests require placement of an intravenous (IV) catheter in a vein in your arm in order to administer a dye. This dye will reach the blood vessels in the eyes and allow photographs of blood vessel inflammation inside the eyes.
• Analysis of aqueous or vitreous fluid from the eye.
• Blood tests.
• Imaging tests, radiography, CT or MRI scans.

If the ophthalmologist thinks an underlying condition may be the cause of your uveitis, you may be referred to another doctor for a general medical examination and laboratory tests.

Sometimes, it's difficult to find a specific cause for uveitis. Even if a specific cause is not identified, uveitis can still be treated successfully. In the majority of cases, identifying a cause for the uveitis does not lead to a cure. It is still necessary to use some form of treatment to control the inflammation.