Effect of duration of diabetes mellitus on the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome

Abstract

Aim. To study effect of duration of diabetes mellitus on the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in patients with type 2 diabetes (DM2) andmetabolic syndrome (MS) or without it. Materials and methods. The study included 115 patients with type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome and 45 patients with DM2 without MS (controls).Of 115 MS patients and of 45 control ones, 42 and 17 respectively presented with different forms of DR. Ophthalmological examination was performedby generally accepted methods including visiometry, tonometry, biomicroscopy, ophthalmoscopy, and fluorescent angiography. Results. The study revealed a well-apparent tendency toward an increase of DR occurrence in MS patients with duration of DM2 (10.0%, 53.1%,82.6% during 0-4, 5-9, and 10 or more years respectively). Significant difference between DR incidence was recorded in MS patients having DM2for 0-4 and 5-9 years (p0.05 in controls). Conclusion. Occurrence of DR increases with duration of DM2 with and without MS but fails to correlate with HbA1c levels in either condition.