Diabetic Retinopathy associated with Higher Risk of DFU & Amputation in diabetes Patients

Written By : Aditi |Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli Published On 2023-01-18T09:30:51+05:30 | Updated On 18 Jan 2023 12:52 PM IST

France: According to a study published in Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews, in type 2 diabetes patients, diabetic retinopathy independently relates to foot ulcers and amputation incidence in hospitalized patients.

Gauthier Borderie, with colleagues, investigated, Is Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) related to Diabetic Foot Ulcer (DFU) development?

DR and IWGDF stratification were registered in hospitalized patients (2009 -2017). The patients had a history of uncontrolled/complicated type 2 diabetes. Until 2020, new Diabetic Foot Ulcers were registered.

Diabetic Retinopathy subjects were categorized by survival analyses and multivariate Cox regression adjusted for confounders.

The study results are:

· There were 522 patients in the study.

· 57.9% were male aged 62 years.

· The subjects had diabetes of a duration of 14±10 years.

· The HbA1c was 8.7±1.8%.

· There were 33.9% macroangiopathies and 44.8% diabetic kidney diseases.

· DFU risk grades were 0 (43.3%), 1 (23.9%), 2 (7.1%), and 3 (25.6%).

· The follow-up period was 52 months.

· There were 58 new Diabetic Foot Ulcers and 18 lower-limb amputations in Diabetic Retinopathy patients present in 140 patients constituting 26.8%.

· There were Adjustments for age, sex and conventional risk factors and complications. The conventional risk factors were diabetes duration and control, arterial hypertension, and dyslipidemia.

· Diabetic Retinopathy was associated with a greater incidence of Diabetic Foot Ulcers.

· Diabetic Retinopathy was related to new DFUs with an HR of 2.51 (Adjusted for the IWGDF classification)

· The HR for amputations was 3.56.

· The relationship persisted in ascending IWGDF grades, with DFU incidence from 2/1000 to 121/1000 patient-years (from grade 0 to 3 and from no DR to DR) and amputations from 0 to 38/1000 patient-years (from grade 0 to 3 and from no DR to DR).

To conclude, In type 2 diabetes, Diabetic retinopathy is independently related to foot ulcers and amputation incidence in hospitalized patients.

BDS, MDS in Periodontics and Implantology

Dr. Aditi Yadav is a BDS, MDS in Periodontics and Implantology. She has a clinical experience of 5 years as a laser dental surgeon. She also has a Diploma in clinical research and pharmacovigilance and is a Certified data scientist. She is currently working as a content developer in e-health services. Dr. Yadav has a keen interest in Medical Journalism and is actively involved in Medical Research writing.

Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751