PURPOSE: To verify the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy found in a type I diabetic population, accompanied at the Pediatric Endocrinology Outpatient Clinic of the "Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo", between August 29, 2000 and August 17, 2001, and it's relationship with sex, the patient's age on occasion of the diagnosis of diabetes and the duration of diabetes. METHODS: Retinal mappings, biomicroscopic fundus and retinography were accomplished in 81 patients, 41 female and 40 male, in order to detect and to classify the diabetic retinopathies in that population. RESULTS: The patients' age varied between 4 and 23 years (average = 12.0 ± 12.0), the patients' age on occasion of the diagnosis, between 6 months and 15 years (average = 3.4 ± 5.8) and the duration of the diabetes, between 7 months and 20 years (average = 5.8 ± 4.4). Diabetic retinopathy was observed in 14 patients (17.3%), in 7 (8.6%) with very mild and non-proliferative form, in 5 (6.2%) with mild and non-proliferative form, in 1 (1.2%) with high risk proliferative form and in 1 (1.2%) with advanced proliferative form. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in our sample is 17.3%. There is no difference between those with and those without of diabetic retinopathy regarding sex and the patient's age on occasion of the diagnosis. The longer the duration of the diabetes, the higher the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy.
Diabetic retinopathy; Diabetes melittus, insulin-dependent; Prevalence; Hospital, community; Brazil
