Diabetic macular edema in juvenile- and adult-onset diabetes.

A retrospective study of 103 patients referred because of diabetic retinopathy graded the degree of maculopathy on the basis of fluorescein angiography. Patients with juvenile-onset diabetes (that is, onset before the age of 40 years), had a higher rate of neovascularization of the disk or retina at early stages of maculopathy than patients with adult-onset diabetes. Greater capillary closure at each degree of maculopathy in the group with juvenile-onset diabetes may explain this difference.