Endocrine & metabolic · UKMLA & AKT
Diabetic retinopathy
A free high-yield preview for the UKMLA Applied Knowledge Test. Below are the key points to recognise diabetic retinopathy — the full SA Note notes add investigations, management, complications and 10 practice questions.
Key high-yield points
- Most common cause of new blindness in working-age adults (20-65 years) in the UK
- Caused by prolonged hyperglycaemia → pericyte loss → microaneurysms → leakage and/or ischaemia → VEGF-driven neovascularisation
- Largely asymptomatic until advanced - diagnosis relies on screening, not symptoms
- Up to 25% of type 2 diabetics already have retinopathy at diagnosis; ~90% of type 1 diabetics develop it after 25 years
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