Retina-Vitreous
2001 , Vol 9 , Num 2
THE VALUE AND IMPORTANCE OF CONTRAST SENSITIVITY TEST IN EARLY DIAGNOSIS OF DIABETIC RETINOPATHY
Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Göz Hastalıkları AD-Sivas
Purpose: The aim of this study is determining the value and importance of Cambridge Low Contrast Grating Test and HbAlc levels in detecting early functional changes. Materials and method: Forty six diabetic patients participated in this study as the patient group. The subjects in the patient group were divided into two groups in respect of having retinopathy or not. Twenty four patients without retinopathy were defined as Group 1 and 22 patients with back-ground retinopathy were defined as Group 2. A control group of 20 subjects who had not an ocular disease except a refraction deficit participated in the study. These groups were compared in that contrast sensitivity test results and glycolysed hemoglobin levels.
Results: The results of contrast sensitivity test were 135±5.98 in Group 1, 92.85±4.46 in Group 2 and 155±5.00 in control group. There was a statistically significant decrease in the results of patient groups compared with control group. The results of HbA1c levels were 9.79±0.81 in group 1,10.55±0.80 in group 2 and 4.81±0.09 in control group. The difference between study and control group results was statistically significant.
Conclusion: We concluded that the retinal functional deficit may occur in early stages of DM and contrast sensitivity test has an important value in detecting this functional deficit. We also thought that the evaluation of HbAlc levels must be added to these test in diagnosis and management of retinopathy. Keywords : Diabetes Mellitus, Contrast Sensitivity, HbA1c