Abstract

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is endocrine disorder showing increasing prevalence worldwide. Chronic hyperglycemia of diabetes affects various organs of our body and causes dysfunction and failure of them. Diabetic retinopathy is a grave complication of diabetes mellitus. Diabetes causes neurodegeneration in retina well before the frank retinopathy. Early detection of these changes by visual evoked potentials (VEPs) may prevent the development of this complication in future, so it can be used as a screening test.

Aims and Objectives: The study aimed to compare the VEP changes with the duration of T2DM.

Materials and Methods: An analytical case–control study was done after obtaining Ethical Committee permission. VEPs were recorded with RMS EMG EP MK II machine. The duration of the diabetes was used to divide patients into two groups: Group I - 30 patients with disease duration 15 years. Analysis and processing of the data was done by using statistical software SPSS23.0 using t-test. The significance level was taken as P < 0.05.

Results: The comparative analysis between groups showed significant prolongation in latencies of P100 wave and N 145 wave in group II and reduced N75 - P100 amplitude in group II, though it was not statistically significant.

Conclusion: It is concluded that the visual pathway is affected by diabetes and VEP changes are correlated with its duration. Therefore, VEPs can be used as a prognostic marker.

Key words: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus; Diabetic Retinopathy; Pattern Reversal Visual Evoked Potentials