Abstract
Objective
To determines the frequency of retinopathy in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients.
Methods
This cross sectional study was conducted on 100 newly diagnosed type-2 diabetic patients
attending the diabetic clinic in Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) during the period of
May 2005 to October 2005. Those with type-1 diabetes, hypertension, retinal artery occlusion,
retinal vein occlusion, retinal vasculitis and sickle cell retinopathy were excluded from the study.
After pupillary dilatation with Mydracil, a detailed fundoscopic examination was done with
direct ophthalmoscopy and retinopathy was graded into background, preproleferative and
proleferative retinopathy.
Results
The mean age of participants was 47 years, 65 % were male and 35 % females. Overall, 9%
patients were found to have retinopathy at the time of diagnosis.
Conclusion
The prevalence of retinopathy in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus patients was found to
be high in this study. This underlines the importance of detailed ophthalmic examination of all
patients with diabetes at the time of diagnosis. (Rawal Med J 2009;34:).

Key words: Diabetes mellitus, retinopathy, retinal hemorrhages.