Assessment of Retinal Ganglion-cell Complex in Diabetic Patients without Retinopathy Using Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine for Boys, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt

10.21608/aimj.2025.446614

Abstract

Background: Microvascular alterations make up diabetic retinopathy (DR), but new research shows that neurodegeneration can start sooner. The original optical coherence tomography (OCT) system has undergone significant development since its introduction. 
Aim and objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate diabetic patients free of retinopathy by spectral domain optical coherence tomography of the ganglion cell complex.
Subjects and methods: Between April and October of 2024, researchers at the Ophthalmology department of Al-Azhar University Hospitals performed a cross-sectional comparison study on 30 pairs of eyes: 30 healthy controls and 30 diabetes patients without retinopathy (group-B).
Results: Compared to healthy controls, diabetic individuals without retinopathy had thinner macular GCL-IPL and RNFL thickness. Researchers observed a statistically significant relationship between the length of time a diabetic patient has had the disease, hemoglobin A1c, average RNFL thickness, and average GCL-IPL thickness.
Conclusion: Patients with diabetes who do not have retinopathy had much thinner GCL-IPL and RNFL layers than the control group, suggesting that neurodegenerative alterations brought on by DM occur before vascular abnormalities associated with diabetic retinopathy manifest.

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