Diabetic retinopathy - need and demand for photocoagulation and its cost-effectiveness: evaluation based on services in the United Kingdom.

Photocoagulation services in the two Regions, north of the River Thames, treated 6,589 cases of diabetic retinopathy (including an annual incidence of 309 cases) or 20% of the estimated total need for photocoagulation. Sixty-one percent of diabetic retinopathy patients have disease in both eyes. It is cheaper to treat a patient with diabetic retinopathy than to look after a blind person for one year. Hence, adequate training in the identification and early treatment of diabetic retinopathy requiring photocoagulation is urgent.