Causes and Diagnoses

Causes and Diagnoses of Uveitis

Uveitis can be caused by:

• Injury or trauma, including surgery
• Infection
• Autoimmune disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, AIDS, shingles or inflammatory bowel disease
• Exposure to toxins

Often, the exact cause of uveitis is not known. Your eye care provider may treat the symptoms and refer you to your physician or a specialist to determine if there is an inflammatory disorder causing the problem. It’s important to treat the underlying cause both for the uveitis and your overall health.

Diagnosing uveitis

Your eye care professional will take a complete medical history and may perform one or more of the following tests to diagnose uveitis:

• Visual acuity test: This common eye chart test measures vision ability at various distances using a series of lenses.
• Pupil dilation: The pupil is widened with eye drops to allow a close-up examination of the eye's lens and retina.
• Tonometry: This standard test determines the intraocular pressure (IOP) inside the eye.
• Fluorescein angiography: A special dye is injected into a vein in the arm, and pictures are taken as the dye passes through the blood vessels in the uvea. The dye helps the physician see if blood vessels are inflamed.
• Blood test: Some underlying causes of uveitis can be found in a laboratory study of your blood.
• Imaging tests: Your physician may order an MRI, CT scan or X-ray to look for other underlying causes of uveitis.