Diabetic peripheral neuropathy assessment through corneal nerve morphometry

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is one of the most common complications of diabetes. It affects 50% of the patients after 25 years of disease. Its early diagnosis and accurate assessment are important to define the higher risk patients. A non-invasive technique for its assessment was developed. The technique is based on morphometric parameters of corneal nerves, obtained by analysis of corneal confocal microscopy images of the sub-basal nerve plexus. We examined 12 type-2 diabetic patients (average age: 58±10 years) and 8 healthy controls (54±7 years). We found differences statistically significant for nerve length, density, width and branching parameters, when we compare individuals with and without neuropathy. The corneal sub-basal nerve plexus morphology has the potential for identifying the presence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy and evaluating its severity.