Sarcouncil Journal of Medicine and Surgery

Abstract: Aim: To evaluate visual functions loss in patients diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy at time of presentation. Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 37 diabetic patients who presented with diabetic retinopathy DR to the specialized center of ophthalmology in Mosul city at September and October 2021. The patients underwent assessment of distance and near best corrected visual acuity BCVA, objective and subjective refraction, contrast sensitivity, color vision. Slit lamp and fundus examination, macular ocular coherence tomography OCT when macular edema was found. Examination and grading of diabetic retinopathy performed with modified Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study classification (ETDRS – the modified Airlie House classification). Result: The majority of patients 33 (89.1%) were of the age group 50–70 years. 22 of them were females. only 7 patients were IDDM and the rest were NIDDM.Best corrected visual acuity was found to be 6\18 to 6\60 in the better eye and 6\60 and less in the worse eye. Color vision was reduced in 29.7% of patients while contrast sensitivity were found to be reduced or lost in 40.5% of patientsNo retinopathy was found in only in 7 patients (18.9%) while proliferative diabetic retinopathy was found in 20 patients (54%)With advanced eye disease with severe vision loss was seen in 18.9%. Conclusion: Impairment of visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and color vision correlated significantly with different grades of diabetic retinopathy. Hence early diagnosis and treatment of diabetic retinopathy can reduce significantly loss of visual functions in diabetic patients.