Background: The prevalence of diabetes among the population is varied and different in different parts of the world. In India it has been reported form 428%. There is prevalence of 6.7% of retinopathy in patients of NIDDM at the initial diagnosis of diabetes. Methods: The present study was conducted at Narayana Medical College Hospital, Nellore for a period of two years. The cases included in the study were 50 diabetic patients with retinopathy changes of both sexes with different age groups. Those included were selected from the patients attending the department of medicine for the treatment of diabetic mellitus, and referred to department of ophthalmology for evaluation, known diabetic patients who attended the ophthalmology outpatient department directly for the ophthalmic evaluation were also included in the study. Result: The mean age of the study subjects was 55.65 years with standard deviation (SD) of 11.3 years. 30 right eyes (60%) showed non proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) whereas in 29 left eyes (58%) showed NPDR. The lesions noticed on FFA of the right and left eyes in patients under study are almost same for Microaneurysm, Microaneurysm with haemorrhages, Ischemic maculopathy except hard exudates, intra retinal microvascular abnormalities, venous beading and Neovascularization. Conclusion: From the present study, it was concluded that fundus fluorescein angiography is useful in differentiating the lesions and classifying the diabetic retinopathy. In addition this technique had a major contribution in establishing the cause of unexplained loss of visual acuity.

Keywords: Diabetic Retinopathy; Non Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy; Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy; Fundus Fluorescein Angiography.