Pituitary Ablation for Diabetic Retinopathy
I. Results of Hypophysectomy (A Ten-Year Evaluation)
- Bronson S. Ray, MD;
- Artemis G. Pazianos, MD;
- Ernest Greenberg, MD;
- Walter L. Peretz, MD;
- John M. McLean, MD
- From the departments of surgery (Dr. Ray) and ophthalmology (Drs. Peretz and McLean), New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center; and the Division of Clinical Investigation, Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, and the Department of Medicine, Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases (Drs. Pazianos and Greenberg), New York. Dr. Pazianos is now at the Lahey Clinic, Boston.
Abstract
During a ten-year period (1956-1966), fifty-six patients underwent surgical hypophysectomy for the treatment of progressive diabetic retinopathy. Of 47 patients who had adequate follow-up study for evaluation of the effects on the course of the retinopathy, 37 (78.7%) were benefited. After the early experience with hypophysectomy in 18 unselected patients resulting in four postoperative deaths, a more rigid selection on the basis of age and cardiovascular and renal function resulted in avoiding postoperative mortality in the next 38 patients. Hypophysectomy appears to be a desirable method of treatment in the carefully selected diabetic patient who is threatened with blindness.
Footnotes
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Reprint requests to 525 E 68th St, New York 10021 (Dr. Ray).
