Once the symptoms are suggestive of ARMD, the patient will be advised to see an ophthalmologist. This is an eye specialist that will ask the patient to look at some special sheet of paper filled with vertical and horizontal lines. If the patient sees that any of the lines are distorted or are missing then the ophthalmologist can say that ARMD is the likely problem of the visual impairment. After that, the ophthalmologist would have to examine the back of the patient’s eye using a magnifier.
Wet-ARMD is further tested by using a test called fluorescein angiography. This is a test that uses a dye to be injected into the vein in the patient’s arm. After that, the eyes are examined with a magnifier and the ophthalmologist can exactly see where the dye leaks from the abnormal blood vessels going to the macula.
Ocular coherence tomography is another test that is commonly used. This non-invasive test uses a special ray of light to scan the entire retina. This scan can give details about the macula. It could show how thick the macula has become or if it is abnormal. This test is very useful to confirm whether the patient has wet or dry-ARMD.
