Diabetic vacuolation of the iris pigment epithelium

In a postmortem study of 57 diabetic patients, 19 of 23 patients with blood glucose levels greater than 200 mg/100 ml in the 72-hour period before death showed the characteristic histologic findings of "lacy" vacuolation of the iris pigment epithelium as well as vacuolation of the renal tubules (Armanni-Ebstein nephropathy). Conversely, 33 of the remaining 34 patients with blood glucose levels below 200 mg/100 ml in the 72-hour period prior to death showed no vacuolation in the iris or kidney.