Diabetic retinopathy under age 20. A review of 71 cases.
A review of the fluorescein angiograms on 4547 diabetic patients with clinically suspected retinopathy was performed. Although only 26 (1%) of the 2013 males and 45 (2%) of the 2534 females were less than 20 years old (71 patients total), proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) was diagnosed in 14 females (31%) and 4 males (15%). The youngest patient, a 13-year-old boy with diabetes for eight years, presented with severe proliferative diabetic retinopathy in both eyes as documented angiographically. He showed no evidence of other systemic complications of diabetes. A review of the literature revealed one other case of proliferative diabetic retinopathy in a patient this young; a 13-year-old girl who was nephrotic and hypertensive upon presentation. This study emphasizes the importance of having prepubescent and teenage diabetics examined for the presence of retinopathy.
Kimmel
A S
AS
Magargal
L E
LE
Annesley
W H
WH
Donoso
L A
LA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008028:Light Coagulation; D008297:Male; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000473:pathology; D012171:Retinal Vessels / Q000473:pathology; D014792:Visual Acuity