Diabetes complications and comorbidities: Retinopathy

An offline, smartphone-based, nonmydriatic retinal imaging system accurately detects referable diabetic retinopathy when used by minimally trained operators in a point of care setting, show data from a pilot study carried out in India.

A retrospective analysis of clinical trial data indicates that regular eye examinations may not always be necessary for people younger than 18 years of age with type 1 diabetes, despite current recommendations to the contrary.

Delaying diabetes onset by at least 6 years in people with impaired glucose tolerance significantly reduces their risk for cardiovascular disease and microvascular complications, show 30-year data from the Da Qing Diabetes Prevention Study.

Research published in JAMA shows similar outcomes for patients with center-involved diabetic macular edema and good visual acuity over the first 2 years after diagnosis, regardless of whether they are managed with aflibercept, laser photocoagulation, or observation.

The presence of microvascular disease in people with type 2 diabetes signals a high risk for heart failure, report the EMPA-REG OUTCOME investigators.

All-cause mortality risk in patients with type 1 diabetes and more than one microvascular complication does not exceed the combined risk estimates of each separate complication, Danish researchers report.

A population-based study suggests that treatment with a statin may slow the risk for new and worsening retinopathy in patients with diabetes and dyslipidemia.

Patients with type 1 diabetes may develop multiple complications even before they reach adulthood, shows an analysis of the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study.

Meta-analysis data show that intensive blood pressure control significantly reduces the risk for developing diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Obese patients with type 2 diabetes who undergo bariatric surgery achieve large reductions in their risk for microvascular complications, shows a real-world study.

The CLEOPATRA trial results show that wearing a mask that emits blue–green light during sleep does not reduce the progression of non-central diabetic macular edema.

Researchers have developed a screening tool, the Liverpool Risk Calculation Engine, which offers individualized, variable-interval, risk-based screening for diabetic retinopathy and has sufficient performance for local introduction into practice, according to a modeling study.

Researchers have developed and validated new risk equations to help predict macrovascular and microvascular complications in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Here we provide an overview of the seven Cochrane reviews published in June that covered topics relating to diabetes, including glycemic control for prevention of renal failure, phototherapy for foot ulcers, and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor treatment for diabetic macular edema.

Changes in the structure and pattern of the retinal vasculature are an early indicator of diabetic retinopathy, and improve the ability of established risk factors to predict which patients will develop it, say researchers.

Results of the CLARITY trial suggest that aflibercept treatment may produce better visual outcomes than laser photocoagulation in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

Individuals with diabetic macular edema or proliferative diabetic retinopathy are more likely to develop and die from cardiovascular disease than those without either condition, results of a systematic review and meta-analysis show.

A substantial proportion of diabetes patients experience improvements in diabetic retinopathy while receiving anti-vascular endothelial growth factor treatment, shows the latest analysis from DRCR.net.

Researchers have used DCCT/EDIC data to produce risk-based screening recommendations for retinopathy in patients with type 1 diabetes that reduce costs without delaying diagnosis.

A meta-analysis from the Collaborators on Trials of Lowering Glucose group supports intensive glycemic control for improved microvascular outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes.