Retinal Vascular Fractal Dimension and Risk of Early Diabetic Retinopathy
A prospective study of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes
- Shueh Wen Lim, BMEDSCI1,
- Ning Cheung, MBBS1,
- Jie J. Wang, PHD1,2,
- Kim C. Donaghue, MBBS, PHD3,
- Gerald Liew, MBBS, MMED2,
- F.M. Amirul Islam, PHD1,
- Alicia J. Jenkins, MBBS, MD4 and
- Tien Y. Wong, MBBS, PHD1,5
- 1Centre for Eye Research Australia, Royal Victorian Eye & Ear Hospital, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia;
- 2Centre for Vision Research, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia;
- 3The Children's Hospital at Westmead, University of Sydney, Westmead, Australia;
- 4Department of Medicine, St. Vincent's Hospital, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia;
- 5Singapore Eye Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
- Corresponding author: Jie J. Wang, jiejin_wang{at}wmi.usyd.edu.au.
Abstract
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.
Footnotes
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The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
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- Received April 15, 2009.
- Accepted August 3, 2009.
- © 2009 by the American Diabetes Association.
