Early Worsening of Retinopathy in Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes After Rapid Improvement in Glycaemic Control: A Systematic Review

Handan Akil, Jamie Burgess, Sarah Nevitt, Simon P Harding, Uazman Alam, Philip Burgess

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

To systematically review the epidemiology of early worsening of diabetic retinopathy (EWDR) after substantial improvements in glycaemic control and evaluate characteristics including risk factors. This systematic review was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020158252). An electronic literature search was performed according to PRISMA guidelines using MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Cochrane databases and manual reference for the articles published until 2020. Published full-text English language articles that report data on diabetic retinopathy in people with diabetes experiencing a rapid, substantial decrease in HbA1c after going through intensive therapy were included. All articles were screened, data were extracted and methodological quality was evaluated by two independent reviewers using a priori criteria. A total of 346 articles were identified after the removal of duplicates. Data were extracted from 19 full-text articles with a total of 15,588 participants. Included studies varied considerably in terms of patient selection, timing and method of assessing the eye and retinopathy classification. EWDR was reported to occur in a wide range of prevalences; 3.3-47% of participants within 3-84 months after intensification of glycaemic control. Risk factors for EWDR included long duration of diabetes, long-term uncontrolled hyperglycemia, amplitude of and baseline retinopathy severity in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The occurrence of EWDR and progression of retinopathy were found to have an association with the amplitude of HbA1c reduction. EWDR has been described in a proportion of people with intensification of glycaemic control. However, the prevalence remains unclear because of methodological differences in the identified studies. Future interventional studies should report retinopathy and visual outcomes using standardized protocols.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-23
Number of pages23
JournalDiabetes therapy : research, treatment and education of diabetes and related disorders
Volume13
Issue number1
Early online date20 Dec 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2022

Bibliographical note

© 2021. The Author(s).

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