During a fundus exam, pictures are taken of your retinas. We use these fundus photos to accurately examine the blood vessels in your retinas. Any abnormalities caused by diabetes mellitus can be discovered at an early stage with the help of a fundus photo. Such retinal abnormalities are known as Diabetic Retinopathy (DRP for short).
Why do I need this exam?
The retina is the inner layer of the eye that registers everything we see. The macula is located in the centre of the retina. The retina contains various blood vessels (veins and arteries). Diabetes can cause damage to the blood vessels in the retina. Such abnormalities can develop without affecting your vision, i.e. without you having any complaints. Abnormalities affecting the macula often do affect your vision. Regular eye exams with a fundus photo make it possible to detect any abnormalities at an early stage. If these harmful abnormalities are not discovered and treated in a timely manner, they can ultimately result in blindness.
What will we do?
For this exam, you must sit down on a stool and place your chin on the support of the device with the fundus camera. We may administer eye drops to widen your pupil. This allows us to take a photo of sufficient quality. The employee will ask you to hold your head still, so we can take good photos of your retina. When the photo is taken, you will see a bright flash of light in your eye. We will take fundus photos of both eyes.
Some clients report a burning sensation in their eyes and blurry vision after the exam. These effects will disappear within a few hours. If you experience any pain after the exam, e.g. a persistent burning sensation or reduced vision, it is important to immediately contact us or your own general practitioner.
The exam is painless and most clients experience only minor discomfort.
Duration of the exam
The exam will take circa ten to twenty minutes, depending on whether eye drops have to be administered.
How soon can you see me?
We want to help you as quickly as possible, which is why we keep the waiting times short at Diagnostiek voor U. Take a look at the current overview of waiting times for the various exams or read more about our waiting times on this page.
The results
A specially trained staff member will review the fundus photos under the supervision of the optometrist and ophthalmologist. We will send the results of your examination to your general practitioner. Schedule an appointment with your general practitioner or nurse practitioner to discuss your results.
You can also check the results of your exam in the MijnDiagnostiekvoorU client portal. You are free to choose whether you want to look at your results before discussing them with your caregiver.
