Diabetic retinopathy in newly diagnosed diabetes after kidney and liver transplantation

New onset of diabetes is a well-recognised complication of whole organ transplantation. Screening for diabetes-related complications is recommended once diabetes is diagnosed, but little is known about the microvascular complications in this group of patients. Of the 57 patients who were screened within two years of kidney and liver transplantation, 53 had assessable images and these showed background changes in ten patients (19%) and background with maculopathy in two patients (3.7%). The prevalence of retinopathy was similar to that reported in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. One of 35 patients developed maculopathy on limited follow-up. Further follow-up beyond two years will be required to document the natural history of diabetic retinopathy in this group of patients.