[Ophthalmologic follow-up of diabetic retinopathy]

The mean frequency of ophthalmological check-ups should vary between one year in diabetic patients without fundus changes and six months in patients with background retinopathy. Shorter screening intervals are needed in proliferative stages, during gravidity and adolescence and in cases with loss of vision. Fluorescein angiography is indicated if the treatment modality is based on its results (focal laser treatment in significant macular edema or panretinal photocoagulation in early proliferative or severe pre-proliferative stages). Theory and practice differ markedly. A questionnaire sent 1988 to 146 ophthalmologists and internists revealed that in Switzerland probably no more than one-half of all diabetic patients are regularly seen by an ophthalmologist. An actual questionnaire given to all 58 diabetic patients seen within 3 months in our eye clinic shows that about one quarter of the patients were not aware of the risk of diabetic eye disease.