Retinal imaging may predict cognitive dysfunction risk in diabetics, Finds study

Cognitive dysfunction is a growing and understudied public health issue in the aging type 1 diabetic population and is difficult and time-consuming to diagnose. Studies in long-duration type 1 diabetes have reported the presence of proliferative diabetic retinopathy was associated with cognitive dysfunction.

Hence, Ward Fickweiler and associates conducted this study to assess whether structural and vascular abnormalities of the retina, representing an extension of the central nervous system is associated with cognitive impairment and other complications of type 1 diabetes.

The authors carried out an observational cross-sectional study of individuals with 50 or more years of type 1 diabetes at a university hospital in the United States. The study included 129 participants with complete cognitive testing. Validated cognitive testing measures included psychomotor speed, and immediate, and delayed memory. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA) were performed to obtain neural retinal layer thicknesses and vascular density for superficial (SCP) and deep retinal capillary plexus (DCP). Multivariable modeling was adjusted for potential confounders associated with outcomes in unadjusted analyses.

The results were-

a. Decreased vessel density of the SCP and DCP was associated with worse delayed memory (DCP: P = .002) and dominant hand psychomotor speed (SCP: P = .01).

b. Thinning of the retinal outer nuclear layer was associated with worse psychomotor speed both in non-dominant and dominant hands (P = .01 and P = .05, respectively).

c. Outer plexiform layer thickness was associated with delayed memory.

Hence, these findings suggested that noninvasive retinal imaging using OCT and OCTA may assist in estimating the risks for cognitive dysfunction in people with type 1 diabetes, the authors concluded.