Since 2002 the Department of Virology of the UMC Utrecht specialized in the diagnosis of infectious uveitis by analysis of intraocular fluids. The laboratory receives 400-500 ocular fluid samples per year. These are routinely analyzed for the presence of a large range of pathogens by real-time PCR or by determination of the Goldmann-Witmer coefficient (GWC) to detect specific intraocular antibody production.
Diagnostic assays are available for Cytomegalovirus, Herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2, Varicella zoster virus, Epstein-Barr virus, Human herpesvirus 6, Rubella virus, HIV, Parvovirus B19, Measles virus, Mumps virus, Enteroviruses, Parechovirus, Toxoplasma gondii, Toxocara canis, Borrelia burgdorferi, Treponema pallidum and Mycobacterium tuberculosis and for a variety of other pathogens on demand.