LEAKAGE OF FLUORESCEIN: FIRST SIGN OF JUVENILE DIABETIC RETINOPATHY: Role of Diabetic Control and of Duration of Diabetes

Dorchy, H., Toussaint, D., Vanderschueren‐Lodeweyckx, M., Vandenbussche, E., De Vroede, M. and Loeb, H. (Departments of Paediatrics, Universities of Brussels and of Leuven and the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Brussels, Belgium). Leakage of fluorescein: First sign of juvenile diabetic retinopathy. Role of diabetic control and of duration of diabetes. Acta Paediatr Scnad, Suppl. 277: 48, 1979.—In order to ascertain the first vascular lesions responsible for juvenile diabetic retinopathy, 408 fluorescein angiographies were performed in 114 diabetic children and adolescents whose diabetes became clinically apparent before the age of 14 years. Compared with regular ophthalmoscopy, fluorescein angiography doubles the frequency of the diagnosis of incipient retinopathy. In addition to the classical diabetic lesions, fluorescein leakages are demonstrated in 50 % of diabetic eyes with initial retinopathy. They probably reflect early changes in capillary permeability. They appear often before microaneurysms. Duration of diabetes as well as insufficient and poor metabolic control considerably increase the frequency of retinopathy.