Diabetic retinopathy - need and demand for photocoagulation and its cost-effectiveness: evaluation based on services...

Photocoagulation services in the two Regions, north of the River Thames, treated 6,589 cases of diabetic retinopathy (including an annual incidence of 309 cases) or 20% of the estimated total need for photocoagulation. Sixty-one percent of diabetic retinopathy patients have disease in both eyes. It is cheaper to treat a patient with diabetic retinopathy than to look after a blind person for one year. Hence, adequate training in the identification and early treatment of diabetic retinopathy requiring photocoagulation is urgent.