Intraocular pressure and pupillary responses in patients with diabetes mellitus

Intraocular pressure (IOP) and the mydriatic responses to darkness in 38 diabetic patients have been compared with those of a matched control group of normal subjects. Overall, the diabetic patients had a significantly higher mean IOP than the control group, but this difference was not found in a sub-group of 13 diabetic patients with evidence of autonomic neuropathy. Those diabetic patients with evidence of autonomic neuropathy had a smaller mydriatic response to darkness than the control group, and this test may usefully be added to standard tests of autonomic function in the diagnosis of autonomic neuropathy.