Diabetic retinopathy.

Until recently, the treatment for diabetic retinopathy relied almost exclusively on managing the metabolic dysregulation of diabetes mellitus until the severity of vascular lesions warranted laser surgery. Intensive metabolic control remains a highly effective means of controlling retinopathy and other diabetes-related complications in many patients. Recent research has identified the central role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the vascular lesions observed in diabetic retinopathy, and new agents that block VEGF action provide an effective treatment for this debilitating disease in patients for whom metabolic control alone is insufficient. The fact that treatment of vascular complications in the retina . . .