Cone photoreceptor density in type I diabetic patients measured with an adaptive optics retinal camera.

To assess the variation in cone photoreceptor density on the basis of age compatibility between healthy subjects, on one side, and type 1 diabetic patients with no diabetic retinopathy, on the other. A high resolution adaptive optics retinal camera in flood illumination regime was employed to image cones of 15 and 16 healthy controls. For each subject we scanned the cone mosaic in 4 perifoveal areas (nasally, temporally, superiorly and inferiorly) at 2, 3 and 4 degrees eccentricity. The impact of diabetes duration, gender and age were evaluated. In the type I diabetic group we found a meaningful lower cone density (p<0.05), except for degrees eccentricity. Moreover, a significant asymmetry of cone photoreceptor densities was proved between the in both diabetic and control groups. The rtx1 retinal image evaluation demonstrated photoreceptors loss in DM1 diabetic patients prior to any clinical changes. AO = adaptive optics, SS = swept source, OCT = optical coherence tomography, BCVA= best corrected visual acuity, DM = diabetes mellitus, DR = diabetic retinopathy.