Premium
Risk of retinal neovascularization in the second eye in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy
Author(s) -
Vésteinsdóttir Edda,
Björnsdóttir Sigrídur,
Hreidarsson Ástrádur B.,
Stefánsson Einar
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.534
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1755-3768
pISSN - 1755-375X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-3768.2008.01440.x
Subject(s) - diabetic retinopathy , medicine , diabetes mellitus , retinopathy , ophthalmology , proliferative vitreoretinopathy , neovascularization , type 2 diabetes , optometry , eye disease , retinal , retinal detachment , endocrinology , angiogenesis
. Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the risk of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (DR) in the fellow eye of an eye with existing proliferative DR. Methods: Our DR screening programme database listed 1513 diabetes patients alive at the time of the study. Seventy‐six had proliferative DR in one or both eyes. Results: In 28 of the 76 (37%) diabetes patients, proliferative DR was diagnosed in both eyes at the same examination. Another 28 patients developed proliferative DR in the second eye within 5 years of its diagnosis in the first eye, bringing the total number of diabetes patients with proliferative DR in both eyes at 5 years to 56 (74%). Almost all the diabetes patients eventually developed proliferative DR in the second eye. The median duration of diabetes before the development of proliferative retinopathy was 19 years for type 1 and 14 years for type 2 diabetes. Conclusions: Proliferative DR is a bilateral disease. Diabetes patients with proliferative DR in one eye are at high risk of developing neovascularization in the second eye and close follow‐up is recommended.