Risk of retinal neovascularization in the second eye in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the risk of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (DR) in the fellow eye of an eye with existing proliferative DR. Our DR screening programme database listed 1513 diabetes patients alive at the time of the study. Seventy-six had proliferative DR in one or both eyes. In 28 of the 76 (37%) diabetes patients, proliferative DR was diagnosed in both eyes at the same examination. Another 28 patients developed proliferative DR in the second eye within 5 years of its diagnosis in the first eye, bringing the total number of diabetes patients with proliferative DR in both eyes at 5 years to 56 (74%). Almost all the diabetes patients eventually developed proliferative DR in the second eye. The median duration of diabetes before the development of proliferative retinopathy was 19 years for type 1 and 14 years for type 2 diabetes. Proliferative DR is a bilateral disease. Diabetes patients with proliferative DR in one eye are at high risk of developing neovascularization in the second eye and close follow-up is recommended.