Long-term incidence of vitrectomy and associated risk factors in young Danish patients with Type 1 diabetes: the Danish Cohort of Paediatric Diabetes 1987

AIMS: To examine the long-term incidence of vitrectomy in young people with Type 1 diabetes.

METHODS: We prospectively studied 324 people with Type 1 diabetes who participated in baseline examinations in 1995. Surgical history was obtained from the Danish National Patient Registry in April 2012.

RESULTS: During the 17-year study period, 39 people (12.0%) underwent vitrectomy at least once. The mean age and diabetes duration at first vitrectomy were 29.8 and 22.9 years, respectively, and 64.1% of the participants were men. In multivariable Cox regression analysis, baseline age (hazard ratio 0.81 per 1 year increase), BMI (hazard ratio 1.21 per 1 kg/m(2) increase), HbA1c (hazard ratio 1.72 per 1% increase) and diabetic retinopathy (hazard ratio 2.85 and 6.07 for mild and moderate/severe diabetic retinopathy vs none, respectively) were independent predictors of vitrectomy (P < 0.05 for all variables).

CONCLUSIONS: Vitrectomy is a relatively common procedure in young people with Type 1 diabetes, with poor glycaemic control being the strongest modifiable risk factor.