IMPLEMENTATION OF VISUAL EVOKED POTENTIAL FOR THE DETECTION OF PRERETINOPATHY AND PROGNOSTICATION IN DIABETES MELLITUS

Abstract

Introduction: Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is one of the complications of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) which affects the retinal blood vessels. It is one of the preeminent causes of blindness in the age group of 20 to 74 years albeit that visual loss due to it may be preventable by adequate glycaemic control. Visual Evoked Potential (VEP) can be used in diagnosis of retinal changes and ascertainment of prognosis can be done by it. Aim: To evaluate the ability of VEP in identifying preclinical neuro-degenerative changes in patients with diabetic preretinopathy by studying changes in VEP. Materials and Methods: This study comprises of 30 diabetic patients without retinopathy and 30 non diabetic controls. Patients were selected from the outpatient Department of Ophthalmology for the screening of DR. Latency of P100 was analysed because of its reliability and less inter-subject variability. Mean P100 wave latency of both groups were compared and analysis was done regarding any discrepancy in P100 wave latency with respect to the duration and the control of diabetes. Data was analysed using IBM-SPSS 27. Student's t- test was applied when two groups were compared whereas Analysis of Variance test was applied for multiple group comparisons. The p value <0.001 was considered statistically signicant. Results: There was signicant prolongation of P100 latency in diabetics without retinopathy. It was also observed that there was positive correlation between prolongation of P100 latency and duration of diabetes. Conclusion: VEP could be a better tool for the detection of very early retinal changes before any clinical evidence of retinopathy has set in. Adequate glycaemic control, dietary modication, appropriate dosage of medications could prevent the early development of retinopathy if done at this stage