Diabetic retinopathy and other complications of diabetes mellitus

: The paper reviews the results of a ten-year follow up conducted in 140 diabetic patients at the Ophthalmology Clinic in Novi Sad. We analysed the number of the cases and ratios between diabetic retinopathy and other complications in eyes and other organs. Apart from retinopathy among eye diseases the most frequent was hypertonic fundus in 20%, cataract in 17% of the eyes and occlusive conditions in the retinal blood vessels in 2.6%. In the whole group only 8% of the examined eyes had no changes. Complications develop in 70% of diabetics with retinopathy and 48% of those without retinopathy. Nephropathy was found in 18% of diabetics with retinopathy and 13% of those without it. Macroangiopathy of the brain, heart and peripheral blood vessels was found in lower percentage but more frequently in diabetics with retinopathy.