Retinal vascular lesions in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus of Caucasian and Asian origin - baseline results from the AdRem study

Objective: To describe prevalent vascular retinal lesions among patients with type 2 diabetes enrolled in the ADVANCE Retinal measurement study (AdRem), a sub-study of the Action in Diabetes and Vascular disease - Preterax and Diamicron Controlled Evaluation (ADVANCE) trial. Research Design and Methods: Seven field stereoscopic photographs of both eyes were obtained at the baseline assessment of ADVANCE. All photographs were graded in a central reading center. Gradable retinal images were received from 1605 patients. Results: The number of patients with any retinopathy (ETDRS score >/=20) was 645 (40.2%, 95%CI 37.8-42.6), of these 35 (2.2%, 1.6-3.0) had severe diabetic retinopathy (ETDRS >/=50). Focal arterial narrowing, venous beading and arteriovenous (AV) nicking were present in 3.8%, 5.1% and 9.8% of participants, respectively. Among participants included in this study, Chinese and South-Asian patients had more retinopathy than Caucasians, as defined both by ETDRS (49.4%, 46.0%, 31.3%;