title: Ophthalmologic complications of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in children and adolescents.
abstract: Diabetes mellitus is a major cause of visual impairment and blindness. Cataracts and retinal vascular abnormalities (retinopathy) are the major defects occurring in the eyes. The frequency of these defects increases with the duration of diabetes. Many believe that the occurrence of eye disease in children with diabetes is rare. Blurry vision, an early manifestation of cataractogenesis, occurs in nearly all children with diabetes. Retinopathy, which is extremely rare prior to puberty, occurs in 70-90% of adolescents with diabetes of more than 10 years' duration. Proliferative retinopathy and blindness due to diabetes also occur in adolescents. Regular, careful ophthalmologic examinations by retinal specialists are indicated for the adolescents at risk. Those at risk are adolescent females with HLA DR3 and DR4 as well as those with limited joint mobility. Early recognition is essential to prevent the blindness that follows untreated proliferative retinopathy.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001766:Blindness / Q000209:etiology*; D002386:Cataract / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000150:complications; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D015803:HLA-DR3 Antigen; D015804:HLA-DR4 Antigen; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012306:Risk
chemical_list: D015803:HLA-DR3 Antigen; D015804:HLA-DR4 Antigen; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II