Pituitary Ablation in Progressive Diabetic Retinopathy

SINCE the advent of insulin therapy enabling survival of patients with diabetes, diabetic retinopathy has become and has remained one of the leading causes of incurable blindness. Both internists and ophthalmologists are haunted by the specter of diabetic retinopathy resulting in a hopelessly blind patient. Lack of effective treatment has prompted many therapeutic trials. Hypophysectomy for diabetic retinopathy is still controversial, although one decade has passed since the first report of its study in ophthalmic publications. 1 Many ophthalmologists believe that pituitary ablation is still in the stage of therapeutic trial rather than a proved cure, however promising some recent reports may seem. 2 A Modern Therapeutic Dilemma. —The very nature of diabetic retinopathy makes evaluation of an apparently beneficial therapeutic response difficult. Although the incidence and severity of retinopathy inexorably progress with the duration of the diabetes as a general trend, the condition often will wax and wane