Application of optic coherence tomography as a screening in prevention and control of diabetic retinopathy

Abstract

Background. Diabetes mellitus is a leading cause of death, disability, and adult blindness from diabetic retinopathy worldwide. Recent studies have provided a better understanding of the disease process and have opened new doors for prevention and treatment. The aim of our study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the current screening methods for prevention and control of dia-betic retinopathy and to create a program for optimization. Material and methods. We included 123 patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Clinical characteristics of the population were collected from patients’ files. The HbA1c level was measured. Results. Among examined cohort group – 45% are with diabetes type 1 and 55% with diabetes type 2. In distribution by gender the prevalence is for males. The biggest part of the participants in our study is in the age group 45–66 years old. In 94% of the patients the duration of the disease is between 3–10 years. 22% of the pa-tients are with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), 45% with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and 33% with diabetic macular edema (DME). Conclusion. Our opinion is that the current ophthalmologic devices, such as fundus cameras and OCT (multimodal imaging), should be incorporated in the process of screening for diabetic retinopathy due to the detailed information they provide and the short time to perform the procedure.