Diabetic Retinopathy and Carotid Artery Disease

Abstract

Introduction. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the most frequent endocrine disorder and one of the most common non-communicable chronic diseases. In the Republic of Moldova, there are approximately 90.392 persons with DM according to the National DM prevention and control program for the years 2017-2021.Purpose. To evaluate the ultrasound markers in a group of subjects with diabetic retinopathy and to identify the associations between these ultrasound parameters and the degree of diabetic retinopathy. Material and methods. There were examined 85 patients with different degrees of DR admitted consecutively into the Ophthalmology department, Institute of Emergency Medicine. Patients underwent laboratory, ophthalmological and ultrasound examination of the extracranial carotid segment. Results. The study included 85 patients (170 eyes) with a mean age of 60.4±9.4 years. Depending on the degree of diabetic retinopathy, 56.5% (n=96) eyes with proliferative DR, 10% (n=17) with severe non-proliferative DR, 14.7% (n=25) moderate non-proliferative DR and 18.8% (n=32) mild nonproliferative DR were detected. Proliferative DR associates atherosclerotic plaques at the level of carotid arteries in 82% cases, severe non-proliferative DR in 70%, moderate non-proliferative DR in 40%, and mild non-proliferative DR in 38%. It is evident that the intima-media thickness values and the frequency of atheromatous plaques correlate with the degree of retinal damage in diabetic patients.Conclusions. The obtained results suggests that there is a relationship between the damage degree of small and large artery in diabetic patients. It is recommended for diabetic patients: ophthalmological examination for DR screening, ultrasound examination of carotids in order to prevent vascular events.