Involvment of the visual evoked potentials in type I insulin-dependent diabetes

The visual evoked potentials (VEPs) elicited by pattern stimulation were studied in a group of 62 type I insulin-dependent diabetics. The patients did not have retinopathy. An attempt was made to correlate the duration of the diabetes, insulin requirement, blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin with the VEPs. Our study showed that the VEPs of the diabetics have frequently delayed latencies. The VEPs elicited by small checks were more often involved. These stimuli excite the smaller nerve fibers and thus it appears that these fibers are the first to be compromised in diabetes. A positive correlation was found between the VEPs latency and the duration of the diabetes. No correlation was found with the other parameters considered.