It is the separation of the nine layers of the retina from their bed in the pigment epithelium and the choroid. It is a serious eye problem that can occur at any age, although it usually occurs in middle and late life. It tends to occur more frequently in myopic people or in those with family members who have had DR. A contusion to the eye can also cause a DR. DR is rarely an inherited disease and can occur even in children. If left untreated, DR can lead to deterioration and even complete loss of vision.

Diabetes is a disease characterized by a failure in the function of insulin, which is necessary for the proper nutrition of body tissues. The concentration of sugar rises in the body producing a series of irreparable damage. In the retina, the small capillaries that are responsible for nourishing it are affected, they become occluded and retinal oxygenation decreases, leading to cell death and loss of function, which translates into progressive and irreversible visual loss. Occluded vessels can also rupture abruptly, and blood can disperse within the eye, into the vitreous, causing sudden and severe decrease in vision. When this blood contracts, it can pull the retina and detach it, producing the most severe state of diabetic retinopathy.

Hypertensive retinopathy comprises the series of changes that occur in the vasculature, retina and optic nerve, as a result of arterial hypertension, acute or chronic. When making an examination of the fundus of the eye of a patient with arterial hypertension, the changes present are objectively explored In the microcirculation, the fundus examination represents a remarkable opportunity to observe the vascular and tissue alterations of systemic arterial hypertension.