To determine the 10-year incidence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and macular edema (DME), and its relationship with its risk factors in a sample of type 1 diabetes mellitus.

A total of 334 patients without diabetic retinopathy at baseline underwent a 10-year prospective study, the risk factors included: age, gender, diabetes duration, HbA1c, LDL-C, HDl-C, TC/HDL-C ratio, ApoA1, ApoB, ApoB/ApoA1 ratio, and triglycerides were recorded. Risk factors for diabetic macular edema (DME) were also recorded.

The 10-year incidence of any DR was 35.90%, and 11.07% developed DME. The risk factors for DR and DME were: diabetes duration, high glycosylated level, and arterial hypertension, and overt nephropathy was well correlated with DME. The lipid study demonstrated that ApoB/ApoA1 ratio was significant for any DR [HRR: 0.594 (0.416–0.848), p=0.01], and DME [HRR: 0.601 (0.433–0.894), p=0.009]. The TC/HDL ratio was only significant for DME [HRR: 0.624 (0.440–0.886), p=0.008]; other lipids values were not significant for any groups studied.

In the present study, the ApoB/ApoA1 ratio was significant to the 10-year incidence of diabetic retinopathy and to macular edema; and the TC/HDL ratio was significant to a 10-year incidence of macular edema.