Relationship Between Risk Factors and Macular Thickness in Patients with Early Diabetic Retinopathy

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the changes in macular thickness (MT) in normal people, patients without obvious diabetic retinopathy (NDR) and patients with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) and to study the possible risk factors for early diabetic retinopathy (DR). Methods: Thirty-one healthy individuals, 40 people with no sign of DR and 60 people with mild NPDR were included in this crosssectional study. All patients underwent a complete ophthalmological examination. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) was used to measure the MT of each participant. The potential relationship between MT and systemic risk factors for DR, including diabetes duration, body mass index (BMI), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), serum lipids, and blood pressure, was analyzed. Results:The MT of the right and left eyes in the central and inner ring regions of the NPDR group and NDR group were significantly different from that in the control group. The MTs of the right and left eyes in the central region and inner ring region were also significantly different between the NPDR group and NDR group, but the MTs of the right and left eyes in the outer ring region were not significantly different among the three groups. Diabetic duration, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TGs), systolic pressure, and diastolic pressure were positively correlated with the MT of the right and left eyes in the central region. Conclusion: MT increases, especially in the central region and inner ring, may be the first structural retinal change in diabetic patients and is related to the duration of diabetes, TC, TG, systolic pressure and diastolic pressure.

Subfoveal Choroidal and Macular Thickness Assessed with Optical Coherence Tomography in Indonesian Subjects with Type 2 Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Our study also provided data on the macular thickness measurements in patients with diabetes with and without DR, which showed that the macular thickness was lower in patients without DR when compared with the DR group. These results were similar to recent study by Wei et al [14] which found that MT in the NDR group was much lower than that in the NPDR group, demonstrating that OCT can detect MT that gradually deteriorates with the development of DR. Similar to our findings, Murugesan et al [27] found that MT in patients with T2DM without DR was thinner than the general population.…”

“…Huang et al [13] found that CT decline was in fact strongly related to DR after controlling these factors. These factors might also be risk factors or even predictors of diabetic macular edema (DME), as well as contributing to changes in macular thickness (MT) in patients with diabetes [14]. The early diagnosis of the emergence of DR and a subsequent management may result from measuring MT in patients [15].…”

“…Numerous studies also have been done to assess macular thickness in patients with diabetes. They showed inconsistent results which were macular thickening [14,25], thinning [26], or no changes at all [27]. The purpose of this study is to assess the difference in choroidal and macular thickness in patients with diabetes with and without DR.…”

Impact of obesity on ocular parameters: A comparative study of normal-weight and obese adults

“…These findings suggest that the inner retinal ring may be more susceptible to the severity of obesity. A study by Wei et al [29] found a significant difference in the macular thickness within the inner 3 mm ring, but not the 6 mm outer ring, in diabetic patients without retinopathy compared to healthy controls. This result aligns with our findings and may suggest that the inner retina may be more susceptible to metabolic changes.…”

AST/ALT ratio is an independent risk factor for diabetic retinopathy: A cross-sectional study

“…[36] This study also found that SBP and FPG were risk factors for DR, which is consistent with the results of previous studies. [37,38]…”