Originally published on Cornerstone, the CHOP Research Blog

I composed this blog post as a follow-up to a CHOP press release on the same study, based on an interview conducted by a colleague.

Excerpt:

Something surprising happened when Gil Binenbaum, MD, MSCE, and his colleagues in the Division of Ophthalmology at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia examined children with diabetes: They kept failing to find what they were looking for.

“We examined many kids for diabetic eye complications, and they didn’t have diabetic retinopathy,” said Dr. Binenbaum, an eye surgeon, who is also an assistant professor of ophthalmology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of many potential complications caused by diabetes’ effects on the body’s blood vessels. Although DR can damage retinal tissue and seriously impair vision, the severe form of the condition is quite rare in children, regardless of how long they have had diabetes or how well they control their blood glucose levels, Dr. Binenbaum noted.