Retinopathy Predicts Cardiovascular Mortality in Type 2 Diabetic Men and Women

Abstract

We read with interest the recent article by Juutilainen et al. (1) showing that proliferative retinopathy in both sexes and nonproliferative retinopathy in women independently predict all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD)-associated death. The authors have cautiously concluded that the sex difference observed in the association between nonproliferative retinopathy and cardiovascular death needs to be confirmed in larger studies. Indeed, I think the relatively low frequency of retinopathy (23%) and the relatively high cut-off chosen for diagnosing hypertension (blood pressure ≥160/95 mmHg or treatment) could be …