Pathophysiology and diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy: a narrative review

Abstract

Diabetes is an endocrine disorder which is known by abnormal high blood glucose levels. There are two main categories of diabetes: type I (10%–15%) and type II (85%–90%). Although type II is more common, type I is the most common form in children. Diabetic retinopathy (DR), which remains the foremost cause of losing vision in working-age populations, can be considered as the main complication of diabetes mellitus. So choosing the best method for diagnosing, tracking, and treating the DR is vital to enhance the quality of life and decrease the medical expenses. Each method for diagnosing DR has some advantages and the best way must be selected according to the points that we need to find. For writing this manuscript, we made a list of relevant keywords including diabetes, DR, pathophysiology, ultrawide field imaging, fluorescein angiography, optical coherence tomography, and optical coherence tomography-angiography, and then we started searching for studies in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. This review article covers the pathophysiology of DR and medical imaging techniques to monitor DR. First, we introduce DR and its pathophysiology and then we present the medical imaging techniques to monitor it.