Original article
An association between central serous chorioretinopathy and gastroesophageal reflux disease

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajo.2004.01.054Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

To explore a clinically observed association between central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)

Design

A retrospective case-control study.

Participants and controls

Sixty-nine consecutive patients diagnosed with CSC were compared with a control group of 55 non-CSC patients.

Methods

The records of 69 patients with CSC were retrospectively reviewed and compared with the records of 55 controls. All patients and controls were examined in a referral setting.

Results

Patients with CSC were significantly more likely to have GERD compared with controls (odds ratio 6.05; 95% confidence interval 2.14–17.11; P = .0003). Central serous chorioretinopathy patients were also more likely than controls to have used oral corticosteroid medications (odds ratio 16.30; 95% confidence interval 2.09–127.33; P = .0006) and antacid/antireflux medications (odds ratio 15.00; 95% confidence interval 1.91–117.58; P = .001).

Conclusions

This study identifies an association between CSC and GERD. There are biochemical factors common to both diseases that support this association, giving further insight into the pathogenesis of CSC.

Section snippets

Patients and methods

Central serous chorioretinopathy was diagnosed in patients who had a neurosensory retinal detachment attributed to leakage from the level of the retinal pigment epithelium without evidence of other possible cause of exudation, such as inflammation, infiltration, or choroidal neovascularization.1 Patients were designated as having GERD if diagnosed and treated for the same by their primary care physicians. All records of patients with diagnosis of CSC who were seen in clinic from January 1,

Results

A total of 69 patients with CSC (cases) and 55 controls comprised the study population. The mean age of the CSC group was 46 years (SD = 10.6 years; range = 30–73 years). The mean age of the control group was 41 years (SD = 11.1 year; range = 18–61 years).

Of the 69 patients, 16 (vs 12 controls) used tobacco products, none (vs 1 control) used agents for weight loss, 12 (vs 5 controls) used antidepressant/antianxiety medications, none (vs 1 control) used amphetamines, 14 (vs 7 controls) used

Discussion

This study compared 68 consecutive patients known to have CSC with a historical control group to evaluate a clinically observed association between CSC and GERD. Several other known factors were examined to assess their significance in predisposing patients to developing CSC.

A significant association was found between CSC and GERD. Systemic lupus erythematosus, history of organ transplant, and hypertension have shown significance in other studies,1 but in this study none of these conditions was

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