Detection of Associated Ocular Lesions During Screening of Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is the foremost cause of blindness in the working-age population in France (1). An increased incidence of diabetes combined with the lack of ophthalmologists and absence of optometrists makes screening inaccessible to the vast majority. In this setting, the digital fundus camera provides a rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective option (2). Since its installation in our hospital diabetes clinic, patients now routinely undergo photographic screening. Dilated multifield photography allowed good quality imaging of the posterior fundus, which enabled detection of other coexisting pathologies in addition to diabetic retinopathy. Fundus photographs of 1,153 consecutive patients attending our screening clinic between November 2003 and October 2004 were recorded with the Topcon TRC NW6S camera …