A pilot study on total, corneal, and internal aberrations in insulin-dependent and non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients.

PURPOSE

To explore the distribution of total, corneal, and internal higher-order aberrations (HOAs) in both insulin-dependent (IDDM) and non-insulin-dependent (NIDDM) diabetic patients.

METHODS

Pilot study including seven patients with IDDM (14 eyes) and 11 patients with NIDDM (22 eyes). Ocular HOAs were examined using ray tracing aberrometry (i-Trace, Tracey Technologies Corp., Houston, TX) and the measurements of anterior segment using Scheimpflug imaging (Pentacam, Oculus Inc. Germany).

RESULTS

Total HOAs was slightly higher in IDDM (0.634 ± 0.228 μm, 95% IC ± 0.131) than in NIDDM patients (0.527 ± 0.245 μm, 95% IC ± 0.108) (p = 0.267). The greatest contributor for total ocular HOAs was internal vertical coma (Z3 (- 1)) for both diabetic groups. In NIDDM, age and central corneal thickness (CCT) were correlated with total HOAs (p < 0.001, p = 0.0180 respectively); however, anterior chamber volume (ACV) was inversely correlated with total HOAs (p = 0.019). In IDDM, total HOAs were correlated with posterior asphericity (Q) (p = 0.002) and inversely correlated with ageing (p = 0.013).

CONCLUSIONS

Diabetic patients showed high values of total and internal vertical coma (Z3 (- 1)). There might be a role for optical quality measurements in monitoring changes due to DM.