ACTA FAC. MED. NAISS. 2005; 22 (3): 145-148

Original article

Dragan Veselinović¹, Miloš Jovanović^2
1Clinic of Ophtalmology, Niš
²Clinic of Ophtalmology "Đorđe Nešić", Belgrade

SUMMARY

In addition to diabetic retinopathy, optic nerve diseases of diabetic origin also occupy a significant place in routine ophthalmologic practice and they are one of the most important complications of diabetes. The paper deals with the systematization and classification of optic nerve diabetes - induced diseases into various clinical forms. The patients with congenital bilateral optic nerve atrophy and juvenile insulin-dependent diabetes, diabetic papillopathy, anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, posterior ischemic optic neuropathy, and retrobulbar neuritis are described as the most common clinical forms of optic nerve diabetes- induced diseases. Possible etiopathogenetic mechanisms are analyzed, the most important of which are hereditary, toxic, metabolic, ischemic and transudative ones. In order to assess the signs of optic nerve disease we analyzed 600 diabetic patients. The presence of optic nerve disease was established in 24 cases. Compared to controls, statistical significance was demonstrated regarding the number of patients with optic nerve disease in the group of examinees (p<0.01). One of the essential characteristics of optic nerve diabetes- induced disease is that the optic nerve involvement was not always associated with evident signs of diabetic retinopathy and that in several cases optic nerve disease even preceded the occurrence of retinopathy.

Key words: optic nerve diseases, diabetes mellitus