Retinal Vascular Fractal Dimension and Risk of Early Diabetic Retinopathy

OBJECTIVE: To examine the prospective association of retinal vascular fractal dimension with diabetic retinopathy risk in young people with type 1 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This was a hospital-based prospective study of 590 patients aged 12-20 years with type 1 diabetes free of retinopathy at baseline. All patients had seven-field retinal photographs taken of both eyes. Incident retinopathy was ascertained from retinal photographs taken at follow-up visits. Fractal dimension was measured from baseline photographs using a computer-based program following a standardized protocol. RESULTS: Over a mean +/- SD follow-up period of 2.9 +/- 2.0 years, 262 participants developed mild nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (15.0 per 100 person-years). After adjusting for age, sex, diabetes duration, A1C, and other risk factors, we found no association between retinal vascular fractal dimension and incident retinopathy. CONCLUSIONS: Retinal vascular fractal dimension was not associated with incident early diabetic retinopathy in this sample of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes.