ACCORD is an international randomized clinical trial to develop treatment strategies to reduce cardiovascular complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus. ACCORD will evaluate medical treatment strategies to control blood sugar, blood pressure, and blood cholesterol. Hopefully, these strategies will substantially prevent or delay cardiovascular events that threaten patients with diabetes mellitus: heart attack, stroke, and other vascular diseases. Ultimately, ACCORD plans to recruit 10,000 patients and follow them up to eight years.

ACCORD is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Diseases, and the Eye Institute) and the Centers for Disease Control. ACCORD is comprised of 7 regional networks. The 7 network hubs coordinate more than 70 clinical centers in the United States and Canada. The Northeastern Network Hub is on the Columbia University Health Sciences campus and its 12 clinical centers are located in New York and New Jersey.

To evaluate the complex protocol, a vanguard phase preceded the main trial of ACCORD. Essentially, the vanguard phase planned to recruit 1,000 patients and evaluate treatment strategies to hit stringent targets for blood glucose and blood pressure. The Northeastern Network recruitment goal for the vanguard phase was 120 patients. On 1/11/01, the Northeastern Network recruited the first two patients in ACCORD. Also, the Northeastern Network was the first ACCORD network to reach its vanguard recruitment goal. On 6/01/01, vanguard recruitment stopped after 1184 patients were randomized in the United States and Canada. The Northeastern Network recruited 170 patients, 142% of its vanguard goal. The effectiveness and safety of strategies to control blood glucose and blood pressure were evaluated through February 2003. The protocol was revised in the light of vanguard phase findings. On 2/10/03, recruitment resumed and another 9,000 participants will be recruited over a 30-month period and followed until 6/30/09.

For further information, go to http://www.accord-ne.org/ and click on FOR PATIENTS or call 212-305-6357.