PURPOSE

Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) is a leading cause of poor vision in young adults. This study sought to evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of primary vitrectomy for PDR in young adults.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Medical data were retrospectively collected at a large ophthalmology hospital in China. We analyzed data for 99 patients (140 eyes) aged <45 years with T1D or T2D who underwent primary vitrectomy for PDR-related complications.

RESULTS

There were 18 patients with T1D and 81 patients with T2D. The proportion of males was significantly greater than that of females in both groups. The T1D group had a longer duration of diabetes ( = 0.008), younger age at primary vitrectomy ( = 0.049), and lower body mass index ( < 0.001) than the T2D group. The proportion of eyes with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) was greater but the proportion of eyes with traction retinal detachment (TRD) was lower in the T1D group than in the T2D group. The final best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) improved or remained stable in 100% and 85.3% of eyes and decreased in 0% and 14.7% of eyes in the T1D and T2D groups, respectively. After surgery, the incidence of postoperative complications was significant greater in the T2D group than in the T1D group ( = 0.045). Factors influencing the final visual acuity included preoperative BCVA in both groups, the duration of diabetes ( = 0.031) and preoperative FVP ( = 0.004) in the T1D group, and preoperative RRD ( < 0.001) and postoperative NVG ( < 0.001) in the T2D group.

CONCLUSION

In this retrospective study, young adults with T2D who underwent vitrectomy had worse final visual acuity and more complications than young adults with T1D.