Some historical and methodological developments in early clinical trials at the National Institutes of Health

This paper reviews five randomized clinical trials with unusual design or analysis features from institutes other than the National Cancer Institute or the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. These are: a Cooperative Study of Retrolental Fibroplasia sponsored by the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness; the Diabetic Retinopathy Study sponsored by the National Eye Institute; the University Group Diabetes Program sponsored by the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases; a Clinical Trial of the Extracranial to Intracranial Arterial Anastomosis (EC/IC bypass) by the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke; and the Clinical Trial of Hereditary Angioedema by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.