[Coagulation activity of the lacrimal fluid and the concentration of glucose in it as a criterion of diagnosis and prognosis of early-stage diabetic retinopathy].

Fifty patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (DM) and with the disease record ranging from 6 months to 5 years and 30 virtually healthy persons were examined. The follow-up varied from 1.5 to 2 years. The obtained results were made use of to formulate the below diagnostic criterion: a simultaneous increase of the levels of the coagulation activity of the lachrymal fluid (LF) and of the glucose concentration in LF with at least one such phenomenon being registered in one eye and a total asymmetry of more than 0.75 are indicative of diabetic retinopathy or of the possibility it would develop. The mentioned diagnostic criterion can be applied for detecting the risk groups among the DM patients.