Diabetic retinopathy: a clinical study with special reference to fluorescein angiography

The present study was conducted on 25 patients with Diabetes Mellitus (DM) having positive indication of diabetic retinopathy on ophthalmoscopic examination. The patients were examined clinically, ophthalmoscopically and with Fluorescein Angiography (FA). It was found that the maximum number of patients with retinopathy were in their 5th and 6th decade and that retinopathy was more common in Non Insulin dependent diabetics (NIDDM) than Insulin dependent Diabetics (IDDM). It was also seen that retinopathy takes longer time to develop in IDDM patients (16.37 years vs 11.7 years). Proliferative diabetic retinopathy was more common with patients having poor glycemic control and in IDDM patients. FA was very helpful in detecting microaneurysms and for exact localization of neovascularization, and other microangiopathic lesions as well as for permanent record.