THE ROLE OF VISUAL EVOKED POTENT ALS IN EARLY DETECTION OF VISUAL PATHWAY INVOLVEMENT IN DIABETIC PATIENTS

Abstract

Structures of the visual pathway are susceptible to deleterious effects of diabetes mellitus. Various investigations aim at verifying the pathologic effects of the disease on these

structures. VEP is among the investigative procedures . . potentially capable of revealing the underlying visual pathway

pathology.

The aim of the work was to detect the role of VEP in early detection of visual pathway involvement in patients with diabetes.

This study was carr.ied out on 30 diabetic patients with corrected visual acuity and without cataract. Fifteen age and sex matched healthy volunteers were.included as a control group.

All patients were subjected to clinical examination, fundus examination, peripheral nerve conduction studies and visual evoked potential study.

The majority of the studied patients showed VEP amplitude and latency abnormalities, while only 2 patients showed detectable retinopathy by fundus examination.