title: Pre-pubertal onset of type 1 diabetes and appearance of retinopathy.
abstract: It was suggested that the years of diabetes preceding puberty may not contribute to the development of retinopathy but evidence for this is conflicting. To verify the influence of pre-pubertal diabetes, we compared the correlations between prevalence of retinopathy and diabetes duration in patients who developed type 1 diabetes before and after puberty.
  
  
  
  Six hundred and twenty-eight patients with diabetes onset at age< or =29, on insulin treatment and aged< or =60 at the time of screening for retinopathy were considered retrospectively. Pre-pubertal age was defined as 0-12 in males and 0-11 in females. Two hundred patients had developed diabetes before puberty and 428 after puberty. Screening was by ophthalmoscopy + 35 mm photography or digital photography.
  
  
  
  Prevalence of retinopathy was lower among patients with pre-pubertal onset and diabetes durations 10-14 and 15-19 years (p=0.006 and p=0.003, respectively) but prevalence rates became similar after 20 yrs duration.
  
  
  
  That retinopathy is infrequent and mild during childhood, is probably due to the short duration of diabetes rather than a specific protective effect of pre-puberty. After 20 years' duration, however, the prevalence of retinopathy is no longer influenced by age at onset, suggesting that, in the longer term, pre-pubertal years do contribute to the onset of retinopathy.
authors.affiliation: Centro Retinopatia Diabetica, Dept. of Internal Medicine, University of Turin, corso AM Dogliotti 14, I-10126 Turin, Italy. massimo.porta@unito.it
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Porta
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dalmasso
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Grassi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marena
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maurino
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Passera
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trento
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D002648:Child; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011627:Puberty / Q000502:physiology*