Prevalence and Risk Factors of Retinopathy in Type 1 Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Introduction Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a severe complication of diabetes. It remains a major cause of visual impairment and blindness, especially in young people. It is a silent affection that only becomes symptomatic at the onset of complications. Our study aimed to estimate the prevalence of retinopathy in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and evaluate the associated risk factors in our population. Materials and methods A descriptive and analytical study, with a cross-sectional study involving 359 patients with type 1 diabetes, was followed up in the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetology, and Nutrition of the University Hospital Center Mohammed VI Oujda, Morocco. Data were collected from medical records and analyzed by binary logistic regression using IBM Corp. Released 2012. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 21.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. Results The average age of our patients was 24.2 ± 11.4 years. The mean duration of diabetes was 11.8±4.4 years. The average glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) at admission was 10.1 ± 2.4%. DR was found in 30% of patients, including 28.6% with minimal non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), 19.1% with moderate NPDR, 19.1% with severe NPDR, and 33.3% with proliferative DR. Patients with diabetic retinopathy appear to have a longer duration of diabetes (13.05±9.05 vs. 10.6±8.07 years). The longer duration of diabetes, neuropathy, and nephropathy was significantly associated with diabetic retinopathy (p=0.02, p=0.002, and p=0.0001, respectively). Conclusion The frequency of diabetic retinopathy increases with age, poor glycemic control, and the duration of diabetes. Therefore, cooperation between diabetologists and ophthalmologists is essential for making an early diagnosis and providing early treatment.

Hypoparathyroidism and Fahr's Syndrome: A Case Series.

Fahr's syndrome is defined by the presence of striato-pallido-dentate calcifications. It is a rare entity with clinical polymorphism, and it occurs in patients with dysparathyroidism, especially those with hypoparathyroidism. It must be distinguished from Fahr's disease (FD), which is defined by the presence of intracerebral calcifications without phosphocalcic metabolism abnormality. In this paper, we report the particulars of five patients diagnosed with Fahr's syndrome revealed by neurological and cognitive disorders, seizures, and abnormal movements associated with tetany crisis. In all cases, brain imaging and biological examinations led to the diagnosis of Fahr's syndrome related to hypoparathyroidism. The evolution was favorable after treatment. Fahr's syndrome is a rare and serious condition for which treatment is simple and effective. Our observations shed light on the necessity of evaluating phosphocalcic metabolism and exploring cerebral calcifications in patients with neurological disorders.