Diabetic retinopathy

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic pathology whose evolution affects different organs, amongst them the eye. Diabetic microangiopathy affects the retina in an early and specific way. The appearance of retinopathy is directly related to the time of evolution of the disease and metabolic control. Diabetic microangiopathy in the retina shows specific alterations such as micro-aneurysms, soft or hard exudates, intra-retinal micro-haemorrhages, beaded veins and intraretinal microvascular anomalies. These alterations in the retinal microcirculation cause two physiopathological phenomena: capillary closure with the resulting ischaemia or extravasation of intravascular content to the stroma causing edema. In this chapter we set out the classification and treatments of diabetic retinopathy, excluding macular edema, according to the different multicentric studies present in the current bibliography.