Photocoagulation for diabetic retinopathy. Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study Research Group

SELECTED CASE A GENERALLY healthy 30-year-old man, with insulin-dependent diabetes of 20 years' duration, was referred to the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, Md, for evaluation and treatment of his diabetic retinopathy. The patient was in apparently good ocular health until several weeks before the evaluation when he noted some blurring of vision in both eyes. Diabetic retinopathy was noted by his ophthalmologist, and he was referred to the National Institutes of Health. On initial evaluation, his visual acuity was 20/30 in both eyes. Slit-lamp biomicroscopy revealed only minor cortical lens opacities in each eye. The intraocular pressures measured with a Goldmann's applanation tonometer were 18 mm Hg bilaterally. He had extensive proliferative diabetic retinopathy in both eyes with large neovascular fronds arising from both optic discs. There was also some thickening of the retina in the macular region of each eye. Figure 1 shows two frames of