Diabetic Retinopathy Vitrectomy Study (DRVS)

June 23, 2005 updated by: National Eye Institute (NEI)

To compare two therapies, early vitrectomy and conventional management, for recent severe vitreous hemorrhage secondary to diabetic retinopathy. Conventional management includes vitrectomy if hemorrhage fails to clear during a waiting period of 6 to 12 months or if retinal detachment involving the center of the macula develops at any time.

To compare early vitrectomy and conventional management in eyes that have good vision but a poor prognosis because they are threatened with hemorrhage or retinal detachment from very severe proliferative retinopathy.

To study the natural history of severe proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Vitrectomy may not only remove vitreous hemorrhage but also prevent or relieve traction on the retina from contraction of the fibrovascular membranes that characterize severe proliferative diabetic retinopathy. It is important to determine whether early intervention with vitrectomy has a better visual outcome or instead produces a rate of serious complications higher than the rate associated with conventional management.

Two randomized trials were carried out in the DRVS among patients ages 18 to 70 years who had either insulin-dependent or non-insulin-dependent diabetes. In the first trial, the 616 patients who were recruited had severe visual loss from recent severe vitreous hemorrhage in at least one eye. Eligible eyes were randomly assigned either to early vitrectomy or to conventional management. In the conventional management group, vitrectomy was carried out 1 year later if hemorrhage persisted; vitrectomy was carried out sooner if retinal detachment -involving the center of the macula occurred.

In the second trial, 381 patients were recruited, all of whom had severe fibrovascular proliferations and useful vision in at least one eye. Eligible eyes were assigned either to early vitrectomy or to conventional management. Conventional management included photocoagulation when indicated, with vitrectomy if a severe vitreous hemorrhage occurred and failed to clear spontaneously during a 6-month waiting period or if retinal detachment involving the center of the macula -occurred. After randomization and treatment, all patients were examined at 6-month intervals for 2 years and annually thereafter. Comparisons of visual acuity distributions between experimental and control groups were made.

Study Type

Interventional

Phase

  • Phase 3

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 70 years (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Men and women eligible for the vitreous hemorrhage group had at least one eye with recent severe vitreous hemorrhage (within 5 months) and visual acuity of 5/200 or less. Patients eligible for the "very severe proliferative retinopathy with useful vision" group had extensive active fibrovascular proliferations and visual acuity of 10/200 or better.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

October 1, 1976

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 23, 1999

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 23, 1999

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

September 24, 1999

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

June 24, 2005

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 23, 2005

Last Verified

October 1, 1999

More Information

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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