Cardiovascular Events in Diabetic Macular Edema
Diabetic macular edema (DME) may occur at any stage of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and is the leading cause of moderate vision loss in adults of working age. The prevalence of DME is about one-tenth that of background DR and one-third that of proliferative DR. Microvascular complications, like DR and DME, are associated with progressive or uncontrolled diabetes. Cardiovascular events, such as myocardial infarctions (MI) or cerebrovascular accidents (CVA)/stroke, are known macrovascular complications of diabetes mellitus. Microvascular complications of diabetes are commonly diagnosed as eye diseases; however, pathologic changes to cardiac and cerebral circulation also occur.
The association between DR and cardiovascular outcomes has been extensively studied and reviewed. However, cardiovascular outcomes in DME patients have not been well examined; previously published studies with DME subjects did not have the power to characterize the relationship between DR and cardiovascular outcomes. This report describes research in a large insured population with sufficient size to quantify and compare the incidence rates of MI or CVA in patients with DME against matched diabetes controls. The authors hypothesized that the presence of DME would be associated with higher rates of MI and CVA.
Background
Diabetic macular edema (DME) may occur at any stage of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and is the leading cause of moderate vision loss in adults of working age. The prevalence of DME is about one-tenth that of background DR and one-third that of proliferative DR. Microvascular complications, like DR and DME, are associated with progressive or uncontrolled diabetes. Cardiovascular events, such as myocardial infarctions (MI) or cerebrovascular accidents (CVA)/stroke, are known macrovascular complications of diabetes mellitus. Microvascular complications of diabetes are commonly diagnosed as eye diseases; however, pathologic changes to cardiac and cerebral circulation also occur.
The association between DR and cardiovascular outcomes has been extensively studied and reviewed. However, cardiovascular outcomes in DME patients have not been well examined; previously published studies with DME subjects did not have the power to characterize the relationship between DR and cardiovascular outcomes. This report describes research in a large insured population with sufficient size to quantify and compare the incidence rates of MI or CVA in patients with DME against matched diabetes controls. The authors hypothesized that the presence of DME would be associated with higher rates of MI and CVA.