Metabolic control and diabetic retinopathy in patients with diabetes type 2

AIM: To evaluate the correlation between metabolic control and the presence and severity level of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in patients with diabetes type 2. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 80 patients divided into four groups according to the duration of the disease: de novo; up to 10 years; from 11 to 20 years; and over 20 years. In order to evaluate the metabolic control each patient was tested for: glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA(1c)), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglycerides (TG). According to eye fundus changes patients were classified following the American Academy of Ophthalmology classification. RESULTS: The patients with DR had significantly increased values of HbA(1c). (9.5 +/- 1.83%) and decreased values of HDL-C (1.1 +/- 0.21 mmol/L) compared to patients without DR (6.9 +/- 1.29%, t = 5.088; p < 0,001) and (1.3 +/- 0.25 mmol/L, t = 3.022; p < 0.01) respectively. The presence and severity level of DR correlated positively with HbA(1c) values (p < 0.001) and poor glycaemic control (p < 0.001) while HDL-C values correlated inversely with the presence (p < 0.01) and severity level of DR (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Poor metabolic control determined by the increased values of HbA(1c) and decreased values of HDL-C correlates with the presence and severity of DR.