[Correlations between clinical findings and therapeutic measures and the course of diabetic retinopathy]

A review is presented of recent literature on clinical findings and therapy in relation to the course of diabetic retinopathy. A report is then given on personal results with hypophysectomy in 15 diabetics with progressive retinopathy. The observation period is 16 years. The course of retinopathy is related to growth hormone findings, which have been determined in a longterm program. Mean survival after trans-sphenoidal hypophysectomy was 4 1/3 years (1 8/12 to 8). There is no clear evidence that impending blindness could be arrested in the whole group, but there was a temporary halt in individual diabetics. In one patient, growth hormone treatment was investigated as a means of improving renal function. The diabetic retinopathy findings did not change during growth hormone treatment.