Diabetes as a risk factor for retinal neovascularization in retinal vein occlusion.

We evaluated a series of patients with retinal vein occlusive disease to determine whether diabetic patients with vein occlusions developed retinal neovascularization more frequently than did nondiabetics. Retinal neovascularization occurred in 68.8% of diabetics after central retinal vein occlusion compared with 27.8% of nondiabetics. Diabetics with branch retinal vein occlusions showed no greater likelihood for subsequent retinal neovascularization than did nondiabetics.