rss
Br J Ophthalmol 2002;86:1252-1255 doi:10.1136/bjo.86.11.1252
  • Scientific correspondence

Can a cilio-retinal artery influence diabetic maculopathy?

  1. L L Knudsen1,
  2. H H Lervang2
  1. 1Department of Ophthalmology
  2. 2Department of Internal Medicine, Aalborg Sygehus Nord, DK-9000 Aalborg, Denmark
  1. Correspondence to: L L Knudsen; ul9204{at}aas.nja.dk
  • Accepted 19 June 2002

Abstract

Aim: To explore the influence of a cilio-retinal artery on diabetic maculopathy.

Methods: In the county of North Jutland 481 diabetic subjects underwent examination for diabetic retinopathy during the period 1 June 2000 to 30 June 2001. A unilateral cilio-retinal artery was observed in 104 patients among which 29 revealed variation in right and left eye maculopathy. A bilateral cilio-retinal artery was observed in 15 diabetic subjects. The influence of a cilio-retinal artery on diabetic maculopathy was explored in a paired study.

Results: Diabetic maculopathy was found to be more severe in 26 of 29 eyes with a cilio-retinal artery (p<0.01) compared to eyes without it. The number of red dots (p<0.0001) and hard exudates (p=0.0002) were found to be significantly increased in eyes with a cilio-retinal artery, as also the number of eyes with central photocoagulation (p<0.05). In addition, clinically significant macular oedema was found to be significantly increased in eyes with a cilio-retinal artery compared to eyes without it (0.01<p<0.02).

Conclusion: In some patients, the presence of a cilio-retinal artery may worsen diabetic maculopathy.

Footnotes

    This Article

    1. Abstract
    2. Full text
    3. PDF

    Responses

    1. Submit a response
    2. No responses published

    Register for free content

    The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.

    Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.