[Relation between retinopathy and glucose compensation in diabetic children and adolescents]

The fundus of the eye was examined in 302 children and adolescents with insulin dependent diabetes (mean age 14.2 years, SD 3.60, mean duration of diabetes 6.4 years, SD 3.83) by prolonged chromato-ophthalmoscopy and the finding was classified according to the authors' own extended classification of diabetic retinopathy. In 295 patients the authors assessed the mean value of glycosylated protein during the period of 3-6 months before assessment of the retina. When these values were compared with the retinal findings, a statistically highly significant relationship of retinopathy and the glucose compensation of diabetes was found (p < 0.001). The increase of the mean glycoprotein value during adolescence, as compared with the prepubertal period, was also statistically significant, while adolescents without retinopathy had lower mean glycoprotein values as compared with the group as a whole.