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OCT assists ODs in diabetes care
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To properly diagnose and treat patients with diabetes, our optometry experts recommended optical coherence tomography for detecting either subtle diabetic macular edema or other minimal changes, with a specific ability to monitor change over time, Jeffry Gerson, OD, FAAO, told Primary Care Optometry News.
Gerson also recommends blood glucose testing, although not high-tech, and the ability to spot test glucose (random or fasting), and A1C can be helpful in a number of ways, he said.
“I believe high-resolution widefield imaging is critical to do the most thorough examination on diabetic patients,” Donald J. Siegel, OD, remarked. “Once the vessels begin to lose their integrity and hemorrhages are observed in the eye, of course, they are hemorrhaging everywhere, including their liver, kidneys and feet. While the early retinal dot-blot hemorrhages may not look too menacing, they do mark a turning point in the disease progression and indicate the need to strive for the lower AIC if it is above 7.0.”
The Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study demonstrated that retinal imaging significantly increases accuracy in detecting small retinal hemorrhages, according to Siegel.
Finally, the AOA’s Eyecare of the Patient with Diabetes Mellitus offers a resource for the detection and routine screening for those with diabetes. – by Abigail Sutton
- Reference:
- Kass MA, et al. Arch Ophthalmol. 2002;120(6):701-713.
- For more information:
- Jeffry Gerson, OD, FAAO, can be reached at: jgerson@hotmail.com.
- Donald J. Siegel, OD, can be reached at: scweyecare@gmail.com.
Disclosures: Gerson reports no relevant financial disclosures. Siegel is a consultant for CenterVue.