Natural history of retinopathy in FCPD, MODY and IDDM - a followup study

Abstract

This paper reports for the first time on the natural history of diabetic retinopathy in three forms of youth onset diabetes seen in our country based on a 4 year follow-up study. Forty patients each with Fibrocalculous Pancreatic Diabetes (FCPD), Maturity Onset Diabetes of Youth (MODY) and Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM) were followed for periods up to four years with annual fundus colour photography using an international retinal grading system. All patients had early background diabetic retinopathy at the onset of the study. The rate of progression of retinopathy was found to be similar in all three study groups. The study proves that patients with secondary forms, of diabetes (FCPD) also develop retinopathy at the same rate as primary forms of diabetes. Moreover, it disproves earlier studies that patients with MODY are protected from retinopathy.