A New Technique for Assessing Diabetic Retinopathy

Monday, September 14 2015 | 00 h 00 min | Vision Science

Ultrawide field (UWF) retinal cameras are providing new insights into the diagnosis and treatment of diabetic retinopathy. A recent study from the Joslin Diabetes Centre shows that many lesions in the peripheral areas of the retina are missed by standard retinal photographs, which cover only about a third of the retina, and these lesions are an indicator that the patient is at high risk of progressing towards a vision-threatening stage of the disease.

“What was a big surprise is how much of a risk this added and how much of the disease was found outside of the area we’ve traditionally evaluated,” said Dr. Lloyd Paul Aiello, Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School.

A larger trial, run by the Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network, that will monitor 350 diabetic patients with UWF imaging for four years, is currently underway.

Further information: http://www.joslin.org/news/Peripheral-lesions-in-retina-point-to-higher-risks-of-progression.html