A co-relation of the eye and kidney-in diabetes mellitus and hypertension.

The study was undertaken to observe the co-relation between microangiopathic changes in diabetic retinopathy and microvascular changes in diabetic nephropathy. Included in the study were 64 patients with chronic renal failure who were on maintenance dialysis, 40 had hypertension alone, 21 hypertension and diabetes and 3 had diabetes alone. On examination of retina, of 40 hypertensive patients, 14 had positive findings, while in the hypertensive and diabetic group, 20 patients out of 21, had positive findings. Nine patients in the hypertensive group had delayed choroidal filling on fluorescein angiography which was not very accurately reflected on Funduscopy. In the diabetic and hypertensive group, 13 patients having proteinuria of more than 1 gm, also had exudates and haemorrhages in the fundus. It was concluded that a correlation exists between the arterial changes in the fundus of the eye and the glomeruli of the kidney.