It is well established that diabetic nephropathy increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), but how severe diabetic retinopathy (SDR) impacts this risk has yet to be determined.
The cumulative incidence of various CVD events, including coronary heart disease (CHD), peripheral artery disease (PAD), and stroke, retrieved from registries, was evaluated in 1,683 individuals with at least a 30-year duration of type 1 diabetes drawn from the Finnish Diabetic Nephropathy Study (FinnDiane). The individuals were divided into four groups according to the presence of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) and/or SDR (+DKD/+SDR, +DKD/-SDR, -DKD/+SDR, and -DKD/-SDR) at baseline visit. Furthermore, age-specific incidences were compared with 4,016 control subjects without diabetes. SDR was defined as laser photocoagulation and DKD as estimated glomerular filtration rate