[Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in central serous chorioretinopathy and diffuse retinal epitheliopathy: a complementary study]

INTRODUCTION: In 2001, Mauget-Faysse et al. found a prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection of 56.3% in 16 patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) and diffuse retinal epitheliopathy (DRE). This prevalence was twice that of the French population. This complementary study aimed to verify these results. PATIENTS: and method: Between 1996 and 2002, 78 patients living in the southeast of France with CSC/DRE were included in this study. H. pylori infection was assessed by the 13C-urea breath test. Diagnosis was confirmed by fundus biomicroscopy, fluorescein and ICG angiographies and retinal OCT scans (from 2002). Results were analyzed with the Chi2test. RESULTS: Out of 78 patients, there were 60 males (76.9%) and 18 females (23.1%), with a mean age of 53 years (range, 29-80 years); 27 had CSC (34.6%) and 51 had DRE (65.4%). H. pylori infection was detected as positive in 31 patients (39.7%) and negative in 47 (60.3%). Men were detected positive in 43.3% of cases, compared to women detected positive in only 27.8%. The difference in prevalence of H. pylori between the study population (39.7%) and the overall population of 58,419,710 inhabitants of France in 1999 (25.4%) was found statistically highly significant (p = 0.0036). DISCUSSION: and conclusion: These results may indicate a possible association between H. pylori infection and CSC/DRE manifestations. These data confirm the first results of the 2001 prospective pilot study and also show a higher prevalence of H. pylori infection in men than in women.