The Relationship between Diabetic Retinopathy and Corneal Autofluorescence.

Ryu, Seung Moo; Lee, Won Ki

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Ophthalmological Society 1995;36(9):1503-1507.
Published online September 1, 1995.

The Relationship between Diabetic Retinopathy and Corneal Autofluorescence.

Seung Moo Ryu, Won Ki Lee

Department of Ophthalmology, National Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.

당뇨망막병증과 각막 자가형광과의 관계

류승무(Seung Moo Ryu),이원기(Won Ki Lee)

Abstract

The metabolic changes in diabetics result in progressive retinopathy and influence corneal metabolism. Changes in corneal autofluorescence were demonstrated originating from mitochondrial flavoproteins and influenced by the metabolic changes in cornea in diabetics. The corneal autofluorescence was determined to evaluate its correlation with diabetic retinopathy using fluorophotometer in 25 healthy controls, 25 diabetic mellitus(DM) pationts without retinopathy, 25 background diabetic retinopathy(BDR)patients, 25 preproliferative diabetic retinopathy (PPDR) patients, and 25 proliferative diabetic retinopathy(PDR) patients. The mean values(mean +/- standard deviation in ng fluorescein/ml) were 13.9 +/- 1.9, 18.7 +/- 3.1, 19.6 +/- 2.3, 20.2 +/- 4.0, 24.3 +/- 4.2, respectively. The means of coreal autofluorescence values in diabetics were significantly higher than that of the healthy controls(p<0.001). The mean values in DM patients without retinopathy, BDR patients and PPDR patients did not differ significantly(p>0.05), but the mean value in PDR patients was significantly higher than those of the other 4 groups(p<0.001). These results indicate that measurement of corneal autofluorescence can play a supplementary role in diagnosing diabetic retinopathy.

Key Words: Corneal autofluorescence;Diabetic retinopathy;Fluorophotometer