Vitreous fluorophotometry in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Correlation with microalbuminuria and diastolic blood pressure

W. E. Jackson, H. P. Chase, S. K. Garg, D. A. Bartlett, S. Hoops, S. Harris, G. Marshall and B. M. Ishimoto
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver 80262.

Vitreous fluorophotometry was performed on 240 eyes of 120 young subjects who had insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (type I) and various grades of retinopathy. The concentration of fluorescein was measured in the anterior chamber and posterior vitreous 1 hour after intravenous injection of fluorescein. There was a significant association (P less than .001) between the grade of retinopathy and the level of posterior vitreous leakage. The amount of posterior vitreous leakage in each eye also had a significant association with borderline elevation of diastolic blood pressure. Subjects with excessive posterior vitreous leakage had significantly higher levels of urinary microalbumin excretion. In a multiple linear regression analysis for posterior vitreous leakage, retinal grade consistently entered the model at a significant level (P less than or equal to .00001 to .003). Blood pressure also entered the model for posterior vitreous leakage at a significant level for retinal grades of the right and left eyes and of the worst eye. These results demonstrate an association between leakage of retinal and renal vessels, possibly linked at least in part to elevation in diastolic blood pressure.