Uveitis

An eye care specialist can diagnose uveitis by asking questions about your symptoms. That includes asking about your medical history and if you’ve had an infection or injury lately. They can also look into your eyes directly or use certain tests to detect signs of uveitis.

Testing for uveitis itself starts with an eye exam, especially parts like the visual acuity test and slit lamp exam. Your specialist may also use tonometry to measure the pressure inside your eye and optical coherence tomography (OCT) to check for changes in the rear structures of your eye.

Other tests are also likely, depending on your symptoms and the suspected causes. Tests your eye care specialist may recommend can include:

• Blood tests. These can look for infections, immune markers or other blood changes that indicate a medical condition.
• Imaging scans. These can look for evidence of issues elsewhere, like a chest X-ray or a brain MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). Some imaging scans use special dyes like fluorescein, which providers can inject into your blood so they can easily see blood vessels inside your eyes. Changes in the dye patterns can be an important clue for providers to determine what’s causing uveitis.

Because the tests can vary depending on your symptoms and circumstances, your eye care specialist is the best source of information about specific tests. They can tell you more about these tests and why they recommend them.