The use of radionuclide retinal scintigraphy for the assessment of retinopathy in diabetes mellitus.
A computerized radiotracer technique for the detection of loss of retinal vascular integrity secondary to diabetes is presented. Radionuclide retinal scintigraphy with Technetium-99m DTPA was performed on 40 insulin-dependent diabetics and 10 nondiabetics. A ratio of eye to brain activity was used to eliminate errors associated with absolute counting. Ratios were found to be significantly higher in diabetics, especially those with active neovascularization. This technique may prove useful in the assessment and staging of eyes prone to retinopathy.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D012171:Retinal Vessels / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*