Abstract
Background/Aims The objective of this study is to evaluate diabetic patients with either a normal fundus or non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) changes, examining retinal alterations during follow-up, and proposing follow-up guidelines within a tertiary eye care setting.Methods A 5-year prospective longitudinal study is being conducted at the Diabetic Clinic of Al Ibrahim Eye Hospital/Isra Postgraduate Institute of Ophthalmology, Karachi. Induction for the research took place from October 2021 to March 2022, and a 2-year preliminary report is presented here. Newly diagnosed type II diabetic patients with normal fundus or NPDR of any stage, irrespective of age, gender, or glycemic status, who were willing to participate and agreed to follow-ups, were included. Patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), diabetic macular edema (DME), fundus non-visibility, or systemic complications of diabetes were excluded.Results A total of 251 patients were enrolled, consisting of 80 individuals with a normal fundus and 171 with different stages of NPDR, including mild (n = 59), moderate (n = 91), and severe (n = 21) retinopathy. The incidence of progression from mild to moderate NPDR was noted to be 52.5%, with a median time of 3.5 months. Progression from moderate to severe NPDR occurred in 37.1% of cases, with a median time of 4.5 months. Similarly, DME developed in 5% of patients with mild NPDR over 8 months, in 22.2% with moderate NPDR over 7 months, and in 37.5% with severe NPDR over 4.4 months.Conclusion This study suggests that the incidence and progression of NPDR stages, along with the development of DME, may occur in a shorter duration in diabetic patients compared to what is suggested in existing literature.