Diabetic Retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes that affects the eyes. It is caused by the deterioration of the blood vessels nourishing the retina at the back of the eye. These weakened blood vessels may leak fluid or blood, develop fragile branches and may become enlarged in some places.
The retina is the part of the eye where light filtering through the lens is focused. The focused light, or images, are then carried to the brain by the optic nerve. When leaking blood or fluid damages or scars the retina, the image sent to the brain becomes blurred. The risk of developing diabetic retinopathy is very high for patients who have had diabetes for a long time. Sixty percent of patients having diabetes for 15 years or more have some blood vessel damage in their eyes.
There are two forms of diabetic retinopathy:
- In background diabetic retinopathy, blood vessels within the retina change. Some will decrease in size, while others enlarge to form balloon-like sacs which obstruct the flow of blood. The vessels leak and hemorrhage causing swelling of the retina or form deposits called exudates. Background retinopathy is considered an early stage of diabetic retinopathy. In some cases sight may not be seriously affected but others, central vision can become blurry. Background diabetic retinopathy is a warning sign and can progress to more sight-endangering stages.
- The second form is proliferative retinopathy. This begins in the same manner as background retinopathy with the addition of new blood vessel growth on the surface of the retina or the optic nerve. These fragile new vessels may rupture and bleed into the vetreous, the clear gel-like substance that fills the center of the eye, resulting in cloudy or distorted vision. In addition, scar tissue forming from the mass of blood vessels can cause the retina to become detached from the back of the eye. Severe loss of sight and even blindness may result from these conditions.
Laser treatment is the most significant tool used for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy to seal or photocoagulate the leaking blood vessels. Ophthalmologic laser treatment is painless, does not require an incision and is performed in the office as an outpatient procedure.
The best protection against the progression of diabetic retinopathy is a comprehensive vision examination by one of the medical staff at The Eye Surgery Center of Arkansas. Diabetic patients should be aware of the risks of developing sight disturbances and should have their eyes examined regularly. Because these exams help to detect the presence of diabetes and other diseases, nondiabetic patients should also have their eyes examined periodically.
