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Diabetic Retinopathy

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Principles of Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of blindness and visual impairment worldwide. The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy has been steadily increasing and is projected to continue to do so in the future. Diabetic retinopathy is a complex microvascular process with numerous associated risk factors and mediated through a multitude of metabolic pathways. Landmark clinical trials including the DRS and ETDRS were instrumental in establishing staging and treatment criteria. The clinical spectrum of disease is extremely varied and is broadly categorized into nonproliferative and proliferative forms. Nonproliferative disease represents the earliest clinical findings including retinal hemorrhages and hard and soft exudates. With increasing severity of retinopathy, there is a risk for the development of ischemic manifestations in the proliferative form with neovascularization, preretinal hemorrhage, and traction elevation of the retina. Both nonproliferative and proliferative stages of retinopathy can be associated with diabetic macular edema which is the most common cause of vision loss. The treatment of diabetic macular edema has been revolutionized with OCT-guided intravitreal therapy utilizing VEGF inhibitors and various forms of corticosteroids. Several clinical trials have recently demonstrated these novel therapies to be highly effective treatments in improving the long-term anatomic and visual outcomes in diabetic patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ophthalmic Consultants of Long Island (OCLI), Lynbrook, NY, USA

    Ketan Laud

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, New York, NY, USA

    Uri Shabto

  3. Ophthalmology, Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Celso Tello

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  1. Ketan Laud
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  2. Uri Shabto
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  3. Celso Tello
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Correspondence to Uri Shabto .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Lenox Hill Hospital Division of Endocrinology, New York, New York, USA

    Leonid Poretsky

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Laud, K., Shabto, U., Tello, C. (2015). Diabetic Retinopathy. In: Poretsky, L. (eds) Principles of Diabetes Mellitus. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20797-1_21-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20797-1_21-1

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