Pre-eclampsia is a potent risk factor for deterioration of retinopathy during pregnancy in type 1 diabetic patients
✍ Scribed by Lövestam-Adrian, M.; Agardh, C.-D.; Åberg, A.; Agardh, E.
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 91 KB
- Volume
- 14
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0742-3071
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✦ Synopsis
The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of pregnancy on deterioration of retinopathy in patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus. Sixty-five pregnant Type 1 diabetic women attending the University Hospital in Lund were studied retrospectively. The degree of retinopathy, and levels of HbA 1c and blood pressure 12 months before, during, and 6 months after pregnancy were compared of those of 56 non-pregnant Type 1 diabetic women matched for age and duration of diabetes. For all patients, sightthreatening deterioration of retinopathy did not differ between the pregnancy group (9/65) and the control group (6/56). Over time, pregnant patients had lower HbA 1c levels than controls (p Ͻ 0.001). Pregnant patients with sight-threatening deterioration of retinopathy had higher HbA 1c levels than those without (p = 0.028 and the decrement in HbA 1c between the 6-14th and the 20th week of gestation was more pronounced (p = 0.006). In those patients who developed pre-eclampsia during pregnancy, deterioration of retinopathy ocurred more frequently compared to those without pre-eclampsia (4/8 vs 5/65; p = 0.005). In conclusion, sight-threatening deterioration of retinopathy was not more common during pregnancy in IDDM patients than among age-and duration-matched control patients. In pregnant patients, deterioration of retinopathy was associated with the pregestational degree of metabolic control as well as with a rapidly improved glycaemic control acheived during pregnancy. Among those in whom deterioration occurred during pregnancy, pre-eclampsia was a potent risk factor.