RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SERUM VERY LOW DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN LEVELS AND CLINICALLY SIGNIFICANT MACULAR EDEMA IN TYPE 2 DIABETIC PATIENTS

Abstract

BACKGROUND Serum lipids have been identified as a risk factor for CSME, and hypothesized alterations in the permeability of the retinal microvasculature lead to extravascular accumulations of lipoprotein deposits, which in turn cause the surrounding retinal cells to lose their function. METHODS A cross sectional study of 88 patients CSME visiting the outpatient department of Ophthalmology at R.L.Jalappa Hospital and Research Centre, attached to Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College OBJECTIVES “To assess the relationship between S. very low density lipoprotein levels and clinically significant macular edema in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.” RESULTS The study involved 88 patients diagnosed with T2DM who presented to the outpatient department (OPD) with clinically significant macular edema (CSME), with a mean age of 58.52 ± 9.639 years (range: 31-75 years). Of these patients, 63 (71.6%) were male, and 51.1% had proliferative retinopathy. Mean duration of T2DM was 8.795 ± 3.82 years. More than 66% of the patients experienced moderate to severe vision loss, with the greatest visual loss observed in patients with proliferative retinopathy. There was no significant association between visual loss and HbA1C or serum very low-density lipoprotein (S.VLDL) levels. However, a significant proportion (68.2%) of the patients had elevated VLDL levels, but no xvii association was found between S.VLDL levels and nonproliferative or proliferative diabetic retinopathy among the study subjects. A statistically significant correlation was observed between HbA1C levels and the grades of diabetic retinopathy, with a mean HbA1C of 9.552 ± 2.571. Additionally, 64.7% of the individuals had HbA1C levels above 8%. There was a positive correlation between serum VLDL levels and HbA1C groups.