How is diabetic retinopathy diagnosed?

Eye exam.: An eye doctor, usually an ophthalmologist or a specialist in the diseases of the retina, diagnosis diabetic retinopathy through a careful eye exam that includes dilating the pupils. Other tests of the may also be performed using photographs, computer scans (oct), or injecting a dye into a vein in the arm and analyzing the dye's flow through the blodd vessels in the back of the eye (fa).

Complete eye exam: You must see an eye doctor for a complete eye exam, including dilating drops. The doctor will examine your eyes for retinopathy.

See an eye doctor: When an ophthalmologist or optometrist sees diabetic retinopathy by doing a dilated retinal exam, a retina specialist can do further confirmatory testing (fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography) to stage and thus appropriately treat the retinopathy. Diabetics need to see their eye care provider at least once a year for a dilated retinal exam.