Treatment of early diabetic retinopathy with cyclandelate

Abstract

In order to assess the effect of cyclandelate on the abnormal permeability of the bloodretinal barrier which occurs in diabetic patients before any other lesions are apparent in the retina a well-controlled, double blind, and paired trial was carried out in 22 patients. The treatments were randomised. The permeability of the blood-retinal barrier was assessed by vitreous fluorophotometry. Each patient was examined before being involved in the trial and then another 3 times with 1 month's interval. The total duration of treatment was 3 months. The results showed that the breakdown of the blood-retinal barrier as evidenced by the degree of abnormal fluorescein penetration into the vitreous suffered a significant decrease in the diabetic patients treated with cyclandelate when compared to the patients submitted to placebo administration, and this effect is particularly apparent in the third month of treatment.