Diagnosis

Diabetic retinopathy is best diagnosed with a comprehensive dilated eye exam. For this exam, drops placed in your eyes widen (dilate) your pupils to allow your doctor a better view inside your eyes. The drops can cause your close vision to blur until they wear off, several hours later.

During the exam, your eye doctor will look for abnormalities in the inside and outside parts of your eyes.

Fluorescein angiography

After your eyes are dilated, a dye is injected into a vein in your arm. Then pictures are taken as the dye circulates through your eyes' blood vessels. The images can pinpoint blood vessels that are closed, broken or leaking.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT)

With this test, pictures provide cross-sectional images of the retina that show the thickness of the retina. This will help determine how much fluid, if any, has leaked into retinal tissue. Later, OCT exams can be used to monitor how treatment is working.