An approach to the prevention of blindness in diabetes.

Diabetic eye disease is the leading cause of new cases of legal blindness in American adults under the age of 65 yr. Diabetic persons are at risk for visual loss due to diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and cataracts. Better understanding of the natural histories of these complications and recent advances in treatment have provided a rationale for developing an approach to prevent visual loss. This approach requires that diabetic patients who are at high risk for visual loss, and not under the care of ophthalmologists, be systematically screened, referred, and treated.