Fluorophotometry in juvenile-onset diabetes: long-term follow-up.

Sequential ocular fluorophotometry was performed on 59 patients with juvenile-onset, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Elevated vitreous fluorescein concentrations (greater than or equal to 6 ng per ml) occurred at study entry in 76% of the 59 patients and in 70% of the 46 diabetic patients without retinopathy. None of the 27 control subjects had a vitreous reading of this magnitude. At the conclusion of the study, 10 of the 46 patients originally without retinopathy developed Grade 1 retinopathy. In addition, 6 of the original 13 patients with retinopathy showed progression of their disease. A high (greater than or equal to 12 ng per ml) vitreous fluorescein concentration which occurred in 17 patients was associated with the presence as well as progression of diabetic retinopathy. A similar association was found for a simultaneous high vitreous and aqueous (greater than or equal to 100 ng per ml) fluorescein concentration.