| Purpose: To examine an association between high myopia and diabetic retinopathy (DR)
in diabetic patients with high myopic anisometropia.
Methods: A total of 116 white diabetic patients (232 eyes) with high myopia (spherical
equivalent . 25.00 diopters, D) anisometropia (difference $ 26 D) were enrolled in this
cross-sectional, contralateral eye study. The frequency of DR was compared between the
high myopic and the contralateral eyes.
Results: Compared with the fellow eyes, DR was significantly less frequent in high
myopic side (27.6% vs. 100%, P , 0.001; relative risk, 0.28 with 95% confidence interval of
0.21–0.37). Similar significant trends were found for the incidence of nonproliferative
(27.6% vs. 69%, P , 0.001) and proliferative DR (0% vs. 31%, P , 0.001). Diabetic
retinopathy was also less severe in the same group.
Conclusion: Using a contralateral eye study design prevented the influence of potential
confounding factors inherent in similar previous case–control studies. On this basis,
a protective role for high myopia against DR was established. |