Abstract
Purpose: :
To evaluate the risk factors for the progression of diabetic retinopathy in a cohort of 55 pregnant women (60 pregnancies)
Methods: :
We retrospectively studied all the diabetic pregnant women referred to the Ophtalmological Departement of the Lariboisière Hospital from 1996 to 2004.We assessed the severity of their retinopahty every three months, and three months after delivery. Glycemic control, blood pressure, the planning of pregnancy and proteinuria were recorded. To ascertain the most frequent outcomes of pregnancy, we also reported parity, term of delivery, fetal weight and height, congenital malformations, the need for cesarean delivery, and congenital malformations.
Results: :
Diabetic retinopathy became more severe in eleven women (18.3%)and evolved into proliferative retinopathy in four (6.6 %). Its progression correlated with the initial severity of retinopathy. We could not identify any other risk factors for progression.
Conclusions: :
These results underscore the need for increased ophtalmological surveillance during pregnancy. Our observations also illustrate the difficulty of obtaining good glycemic control, even when pregnancies are planed.
Keywords: diabetic retinopathy • pathology: human • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: natural history