[Diabetic retinopathy screening and teleophthalmology]

To determine the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and evaluate our experience in DR screening in a study carried out between the Ophthalmology Department of the University General Hospital of Alicante and Department 19 Primary Care of Alicante by using a non-retinal mydriatic camera and telemedicine.

A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted on 2,435 diabetic patients from 1 February 2006 to 1 February 2009. Three 45° retinographies of both eyes of each patient were obtained and sent to the Department of Ophthalmology via the hospital intranet. These were then evaluated by 2 ophthalmologists, experts in the retina, with each issuing an individualized report for each patient.

The prevalence of DR was 17.90%, with 80.73% of them having mild-moderate proliferative DR, 12.16% severe non-proliferative DR, 2.29% proliferative DR, and 4.82% with diabetic maculopathy associated with any level of retinopathy. The retinographies were considered low quality in 41 patients (1.69%).

We highlight the benefits of the tele-ophthalmology in screening diabetic patients to enable early diagnosis and treatment, and improving the circuit of communication between primary and specialist care.