Status of Diabetic Retinopathy and Its Presentation Patterns in Diabetics at Assiut University Hospital

Brief Summary

Detailed Description

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the main cause of decreased vision and blindness in patients with diabetes throughout the world . In Egypt, the estimated prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) is expected to rise from 5-10% in the 1990s to\>13% of the population over 20 years old by 2025 . The estimation of the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) is challenging due to the great variation in the study populations, methodologies, and grading schemes . Globally, the prevalence of DR and diabetic macular edema (DMO) is expected to rise from the estimates for the period 2015-2019 (27%) due to the expected increase in the life expectancy of people living with DM . Diabetic retinopathy is now the 5th leading cause of blindness worldwide and is the main cause of blindness in working population . Blindness due to diabetic retinopathy is more common in type 1 diabetics (4%) than in type 2 (1.6%) . The exact mechanism of how prolonged hyperglycaemia causes retinopathy is still unclear, however studies have shown that prolonged hyperglycaemia alters retinal perfusion thereby disturbing the normal physiological and homeostatic state of the retina, in turn causing retinopathy . Fortunately, much of the visual loss from DR is preventable, and the rates of vision loss from diabetes and DR have steadily declined over the past few decades. Such improvements in visual outcomes for DR are multifactorial, and are due in large part to a combination of better systemic risk factor control, coupled with advances in ocular disease assessment, screening, imaging and treatment in recent years .

Primary Outcomes