PROLIFERATIVE RETINOPATHY PREDICTS IMPAIRMENT IN BRAIN VASOMOTOR RESERVE IN TYPE-II DIABETES

Ninety-four diabetic patients, asymptomatic for cerebrovascular diseas e, stratified according to the presence of proliferative retinopathy ( PDR), background retinopathy (BDR) and no diabetic retinopathy (NDR) u nderwent transcranial Doppler evaluation. Impairment in neither blood flow velocity and pulsatility index recorded at the ophthalmic and int racranial arteries, nor in the vasodilatory response to a breath-holdi ng test was found in patients, when compared to age-matched controls. The subgroup analysis showed that PDR patients had significantly highe r pulsatility index and lower cerebrovascular reactivity values than B DR and NDR patients. Such a difference was not just due to age or dise ase duration, being greatest in patients under the sixties. In asympto matic diabetic patients, PDR may be a predictor of early cerebral vess el involvement and should lead to investigate brain hemodynamics by sc reening procedures.