[Diabetic retinopathy : results of retinal photocoagulation (a five-year follow-up) (author's transl)].

Case-reports on 187 (321 treated eyes) were analyzed in order to assess the benefits of argon laser photocoagulation in diabetic retinopathy. Results are presented according to the clinical type and as a function of the histological type of the lesions. The authors propose a protocoagulation approach which prevents the appearance of new vessels by destroying the vasoformative hypoxic retinal areas and to treat the existing new vessels and the macular edema. The indications and the approach depend mainly careful angiographic assembling and from the results of examination of the macular region.