Diabetic retinopathy under age 20. A review of 71 cases

A review of the fluorescein angiograms on 4547 diabetic patients with clinically suspected retinopathy was performed. Although only 26 (1%) of the 2013 males and 45 (2%) of the 2534 females were less than 20 years old (71 patients total), proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) was diagnosed in 14 females (31%) and 4 males (15%). The youngest patient, a 13-year-old boy with diabetes for eight years, presented with severe proliferative diabetic retinopathy in both eyes as documented angiographically. He showed no evidence of other systemic complications of diabetes. A review of the literature revealed one other case of proliferative diabetic retinopathy in a patient this young; a 13-year-old girl who was nephrotic and hypertensive upon presentation. This study emphasizes the importance of having prepubescent and teenage diabetics examined for the presence of retinopathy.