Summary
Photocoagulation services in the two Regions, north of the River Thames, treated 6,589 cases of diabetic retinopathy (including an annual incidence of 309 cases) or 20% of the estimated total need for photocoagulation. Sixty-one percent of diabetic retinopathy patients have disease in both eyes. It is cheaper to treat a patient with diabetic retinopathy than to look after a blind person for one year. Hence, adequate training in the identification and early treatment of diabetic retinopathy requiring photocoagulation is urgent.
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Savolainen, E.A., Lee, Q.P. Diabetic retinopathy — Need and demand for photocoagulation and its cost-effectiveness: Evaluation based on services in the United Kingdom. Diabetologia 23, 138–140 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01271176
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01271176