title: Pediatric diabetic retinopathy: experience of a tertiary hospital in Ethiopia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Diabetic retinopathy is one of the micro vascular complications of diabetes mellitus. To date there are no studies that show the magnitude of diabetic retinopathy in the pediatric population of Ethiopia with only very few in Africa. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in children and adolescents at a tertiary center in Ethiopia.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional hospital based descriptive study included children aged between 9 and 17 years attending the endocrine follow-up clinic of Tikur Anbesa Specialized Hospital. A structured questionnaire was used for evaluating sociodemographic data and information pertinent to diabetes. The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy was determined by fundus photography of each eye.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 86 patients were examined with a mean age of 13.7 (SD = 1.8) years. At onset of diabetes, 95.6% of children presented with diabetic ketoacidosis(DKA); 22 children (25.6%) had at least two episodes of DKA, and 45 children (52.3%) had poor glycemic control. Background retinopathy was present in four children (4.7%) with a mean age of 14.25 (SD = 1.89) years and two of them also had maculopathy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although there are some methodological limitations, this study highlights the difficulties of achieving good glycemic control and the early occurrence of diabetic retinopathy in Ethiopian diabetic children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Hawassa University, Awassa, Ethiopia. mulugetasitot@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mulugeta Sitot
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Shibeshi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, St. Paul Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. berushaas@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Bereket
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fantahun
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. tedlakgb@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Tedla
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kebede
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Hawassa University, Awassa, Ethiopia. birknehtilahun@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Birkneh
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tilahun
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D005002:Ethiopia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007328:Insulin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D007328:Insulin