[Occurrence of diabetic retinopathy in children and adolescents and its relation to the duration of diabetes and patient age].

In a retrospective investigation the authors give an account of a group of 302 children and adolescents with insulin dependent diabetes (mean age 14.2 years, mean duration of diabetes 6.4 years) whom they examine regularly by chromatoophtalmoscopy and evaluate the findings according to their own extended classification of diabetic retinopathy. In 29% of the patients the finding was positive and in 25% the finding was suspect. The most frequent pathological change were microaneurysms; intraretinal microvascular abnormalities (IRMA) were detected in 13 patients. The trend towards proliferative changes is apparent in some patients surprisingly soon. The authors emphasize the sensitivity of the method which along with the extended classification of retinopathy makes its monitoring possible. The authors discuss the value of fluorescent angiography in the initial stages of retinal damage. They provide evidence of a statistically significant relationship of diabetic retinopathy and the duration of diabetes (p < 0.001) and age (p < 0.001).