October 20, 2008
Hyperglycemia and DKA, Other
Question from Butler, Pennsylvania, USA:
My 18-year-old son, diabetic since age six, just had his first episode of DKA two weeks ago. Now, two weeks later, over the span of a few days, his distance vision has blurred considerably. He had a dilated eye exam yesterday with no changes since his last visit in July, but his vision, which was corrected to 20/20 then, is considerably worse. He will need new glasses. Is this a result of the DKA and could it possibly correct itself? He had no vision problems during the DKA episode.
Answer:
DKA, and the hyperglycemia associated with it, causes the eye’s internal lens to swell with fluid, changing its optical power and dramatically affecting one’s eyeglass or contact lens prescription. If the lens swells sufficiently, opacities may develop (cataract) that cause a permanent prescription change and, possibly, vision that is not correctable to 20/20 (“normal”) levels. Otherwise, the prescription likely will return to the pre-DKA state after several weeks of improved metabolic control.
PC
