Relationship between compliance with ophthalmic examinations preoperatively and visual outcome after vitrectomy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

PURPOSE

To evaluate the relationship between compliance with ophthalmic examinations before vitrectomy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and postoperative vision.

METHODS

The clinical findings and visual acuity in 128 eyes of 94 patients who had undergone vitrectomy for PDR were reviewed. The patients were divided into the never-examined group with no previous ophthalmic examination until the first visit when vitrectomy was prescribed, the noncompliant group with a history of missing ophthalmic examinations over a 1-year period, and the compliant group with ophthalmic examinations at least once a year before the vitrectomy.

RESULTS

Compliance with general medical examinations in the never-examined group (19 %) and in the noncompliant group (26 %) was significantly lower than that in the compliant group (100 %; P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively). The mean glycosylated hemoglobin in the never-examined group (8.9 %) was significantly higher than that in the compliant group (7.6 %; P = 0.047). The postoperative visual acuities at 6 months and at the final visit were significantly better in the compliant group than in the never-examined group (P = 0.017).

CONCLUSIONS

Compliance with preoperative examinations significantly affects vision after vitrectomy for PDR. Low compliance with ophthalmic examinations was significantly associated with low compliance with general medical examinations and high blood glucose levels.