Incidence of Helicobacter pylori in central serous chorioretinopathy: a case control study

Helicobacter pylori infection is one of the most common infections worldwide. Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) is a serous macular detachment that usually affects young people. The aetiopathogenesis of the disease is still not completely understood. Recently, an interesting association has been observed between this disease and the H. pylori infection. This study was conducted to investigate a possible association between H. pylori infection and CSCR. A prospective study was performed and we evaluated a total of 54 CSCR patients (48 males and 6 females, median age 35.7 years), and a control group of 59 patients (25 women, 34 males; mean age 42.6±11 years) who referred to gastroenterology department of Imam Hospital, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, were studied. Central serous chorioretinopathy was diagnosed on the basis of findings in ophthalmic examinations and confirmed by fluorescein angiogram. All patients underwent a ¹³C-urea breath test (UBT) and serum IgG anti-bodies to H. pylori by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique to detect H. pylori infection. Patients were defined as H. pylori infected if both tests were positive. The mean duration of symptoms before diagnosis was 10.5±4.5 days. Overall no statistically significant difference was found between left and right eyes, bilaterally was in 5 patients (9.2%). The incidence of H. pylori infection was 68.5% in CSCR patients and 65% in control subjects (p=0.64). These results indicate that the prevalence of H. pylori infection is not higher in patients with CSCR than in controls. Further large studies will be required to determine the role of H. pylori infection in patients with CSCR.