Symmetry of retinopathy in the NI diabetic retinopathy screening programme NIDRSP

Abstract

Abstract Purpose To predict the probable level of retinopathy in an ungradeable image from the retinopathy status in the gradeable fellow eye Methods Retinopathy is graded within NIDRSP on a well established grading scale ( 0‐6) based on the ETDRS scale. The retinopathy status ( screening grades) was taken from a cohort of 5000 consecutive patients. Inter eye correlations in grading outcome were examined Results A high degree of symmetry in retinopathy grades was found. At the lower levels of grade the right eye tended to be slightly worse than the left If a retinopathy grade of 0( none ) to 2 ( definite early retinopathy) was found in the right eye If no retinopathy was found in 1 eye ( right or left), the probability of having referable retinopathy in the fellow eye was found to be zero. If moderate non referable retinopathy was found in the right eye, the probability of having referable retinopathy in the left was 8%. If moderate non referable retinopathy was found in the left eye , the probability of having referable retinopathy in the right was 6%. If referable retinopathy was found in the right eye, referable retinopathy was present in the left in 60%. If referable retinopathy was found in the left eye, referable retinopathy was found in the right eye in 46%. Conclusion At more advanced levels of retinopathy the probability of having sight threatening retinopathy is higher for the left eye than for the right. This should be considered when referring patients in whom the retinal status of one eye is masked by eg media opacities. Commercial interest