Argon laser photocoagulation for idiopathic neovascularization. Results of a randomized clinical trial.

The Idiopathic Neovascularization Study is a multicenter controlled clinical trial designed to determine whether argon laser photocoagulation is useful in preventing severe visual loss in eyes with a choroidal neovascular membrane (NVM) and no other clinically significant eye disease. Patients with an NVM 200 to 2,500 microns from the center of the foveal avascular zone were randomly assigned to argon laser photocoagulation (n = 33) or to observation (n = 34) groups. While the sample size of 67 eyes is insufficient to yield independent, definitive results, the pattern of treatment benefit is similar to that observed in two other controlled trials of argon laser photocoagulation of NVMs, the Senile Macular Degeneration Study and the Ocular Histoplasmosis Study. It is reasonable to conclude that patients with idiopathic NVMs, treated according to study protocol, may derive a similar benefit.