Detection of Early Diabetic Change with Optical Coherence Tomography in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients without Retinopathy

Abstract

To detect early diabetic damage in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with no diabetic retinopathy (NDR) using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and to evaluate OCT as a clinical test. Thirty-two patients with NDR (n = 32) were enrolled. We examined retinal and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness using OCT. Two healthy normal populations were also enrolled for the retinal thickness (n = 48) and RNFL thickness (n = 34). Both OCT measurements were obtained in four areas (temporal, superior, nasal and inferior). The receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was generated to evaluate the predictor variables. Comparing the normal and NDR eyes, retinal thickness significantly increased (p = 0.03) and RNFL thickness significantly decreased (p = 0.02) in the superior areas. The area under the ROC curve was 0.65 for the superior retinal thickness and 0.63 for the superior RNFL thickness. Both OCT measurements can detect early retinal damage in NDR patients.