The relationship of puberty to diabetic retinopathy
R. P. Murphy, M. Nanda, L. Plotnick, C. Enger, S. Vitale and A. Patz
Retinal Vascular Center, Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute, Baltimore, MD 21205.
The presence of background and preproliferative retinopathy in 70 patients
with type I diabetes was correlated with their pubertal development.
Pubertal status was assessed by pediatricians using the sexual maturity
ratings of Tanner. In young diabetics with comparable disease duration (5
to 10 years), postpubertal children had a greater prevalence of retinopathy
than those who were not sexually mature. After adjusting for duration of
diabetes and sex, the relative odds of having retinopathy in the
postpubescent group relative to the prepubescent or pubescent groups was
4.8 (95% confidence interval: 1.5 to 15.3). This study suggests that
minimal retinopathy in children is not rare and that postpubescent children
have a greater prevalence of diabetic retinopathy than do prepubescent
children with similar diabetes duration.
