title: Assessment of Macular Peripapillary Nerve Fiber Layer and Choroidal Thickness Changes in Pregnant Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, Healthy Pregnant Women, and Healthy Non-Pregnant Women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a risk factor for the development of type II diabetes and it causes maternal and child morbidity. Screening for diabetic retinopathy (DR) is important because patients who develop DR have no symptoms until macular edema and/or proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) are already present. The aim of this study was to determine the early retinal findings of GDM.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was conducted in a tertiary research center. We conducted a prospective cross-sectional study with 3 groups: Group 1 consisted of 36 pregnant women with GDM, Group 2 consisted of 24 healthy pregnant women, and Group 3 consisted of 38 healthy non-pregnant women of reproductive age. Spectralis optical coherence tomography (OCT) was used for the assessment. Macular, choroid, and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thicknesses were evaluated in patients with GDM and comparisons were made among pregnant women with GDM, healthy pregnant women, and healthy non-pregnant women for these parameters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The nasal part of the RNFL was significantly thinner in the GDM group than in the healthy pregnant group. None of the patients had retinopathy or macular edema at the time of examination.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Decreased nasal part of RNFL thickness may be the first retinal change in patients with GDM. Our study suggests that OCT should be performed for the patients with GDM for detection of early retinal changes associated with GDM.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kayseri Education and Research Hospital, Kayseri, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gokhan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Acmaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Kayseri Education and Research Hospital, Kayseri, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Atas
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Kayseri Education and Research Hospital, Kayseri, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gulhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Erciyes University School of Medicine, Kayseri, Turkey.
authors.forename: Banu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Acmaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kayseri Education and Research Hospital, Kayseri, Turkey.
authors.forename: Fatma
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Atas
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kayseri Military Hospital, Kayseri, Turkey.
authors.forename: Huseyin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aksoy
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, Erciyes University School of Medicine, Kayseri, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gokmen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zararsiz
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Kayseri Military Hospital, Kayseri, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gokcen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gokce
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002829:Choroid / Q000473:pathology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016640:Diabetes, Gestational / Q000473:pathology*; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008269:Macular Edema / Q000473:pathology*; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000473:pathology*; D009898:Optic Disk / Q000473:pathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012162:Retinal Degeneration / Q000473:pathology; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods; D014792:Visual Acuity