Dry Macular Degeneration

An eye care professional may diagnose dry macular degeneration by reviewing medical and family history and doing a complete eye exam. Other tests may be done, including:

• Examination of the back of the eye. An eye doctor puts drops in the eyes to dilate them and uses a special tool to examine the back of the eye. The eye doctor looks for a mottled appearance that’s caused by yellow deposits that form under the retina, called drusen. People with macular degeneration often have many drusen.
• A test for changes in the center of the vision field. An Amsler grid may be used to test for changes in the center of the vision field. If you have macular degeneration, some of the straight lines in the grid may look faded, broken or distorted.
• Fluorescein angiography. During this test, an eye doctor injects a dye into a vein in the arm. The dye travels to and highlights the blood vessels in the eye. A special camera takes pictures as the dye travels through the blood vessels. The images may show retinal or blood vessel changes.
• Indocyanine green angiography. Like fluorescein angiography, this test uses an injected dye. It may be used alongside a fluorescein angiogram to identify specific types of macular degeneration.
• Optical coherence tomography. This noninvasive imaging test displays detailed cross sections of the retina. It identifies areas of thinning, thickening or swelling. These can be caused by fluid buildup from leaking blood vessels in and under the retina.