Elsevier

Ophthalmology

Volume 115, Issue 1, January 2008, Pages 169-173
Ophthalmology

Original article
The Incidence of Central Serous Chorioretinopathy in Olmsted County, Minnesota, 1980–2002

Presented as a poster at: American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting, November 2006, Las Vegas, Nevada.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2007.02.032Get rights and content

Purpose

To determine the incidence of central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) in Olmsted County, Minnesota from 1980 to 2002, determine the associated risk factors for CSC based on previously reported risk factors, investigate for any new risk factors not previously reported, and determine a population-based recurrence rate.

Design

Population-based retrospective cohort and case–control study.

Participants

Cases were all patients with newly diagnosed CSC in Olmsted County Minnesota, from January 1, 1980 through December 31, 2002. Controls were selected from the same general population. Control group 1 patients were matched for age, gender, length of medical follow-up, and index date (corresponding with date of diagnosis for cases). Control group 2 patients were matched for all the same criteria as control group 1, and they had documented normal eye examination results.

Methods

Using the Rochester Epidemiology Project medical records linkage system, which captures virtually all medical care provided to residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, we identified all cases of CSC in county residents between 1980 and 2002. We reviewed the entire medical record of cases and applied standardized criteria for CSC. The medical records of cases and controls were reviewed for the presence of risk factors as well.

Main Outcome Measure

Incidence of CSC. Secondary outcomes were also evaluated.

Results

There were 74 cases (63 men, 11 women) of CSC. Mean annual age-adjusted incidences per 100 000 were 9.9 (95% confidence interval [CI], 7.4–12.4) for men and 1.7 (95% CI, 0.7–2.7) for women. The incidence of CSC was approximately 6 times higher in men than in women (P<0.001). There were no significant risk factors identified for CSC. Twenty-three (31%) of the 74 patients with CSC had recurrences. The mean number of recurrences was 1.5 (range, 1–4). Median time from diagnosis to recurrence was 1.3 years (range, 0.4–18.2).

Conclusion

The incidence of CSC has not previously been reported in a population-based study. In accordance with previous studies, we found that CSC occurs more frequently in men than in women.

Section snippets

Materials and Methods

Institutional review board approval was obtained for this retrospective chart review study. The Rochester Epidemiology Project is a medical linkages system designed to capture data on any patient–physician encounter in Olmsted County, Minnesota, a semiurban community.14 Population-based epidemiologic research is possible in Olmsted County because medical care is essentially self-contained within the community, provided by either the Mayo Clinic or the Olmsted Medical Group and its affiliated

Results

An initial search revealed 107 cases of CSC in Olmsted County, Minnesota from 1980 to 2002. On further review, 35 cases were excluded for the following reasons: no fluorescein angiogram obtained (23 cases), no CSC on review of the fluorescein angiogram (10), and not in Olmsted County at the time of diagnosis (2). We reviewed all the coded cases of pigment epithelial detachment in patients younger than 60 from 1980 through 2002. There were 2 cases of CSC misdiagnosed as pigment epithelial

Discussion

Our study provides the only known population-based data on the incidence of CSC. We found the overall incidence to be 5.8 per 100 000 people. The age-adjusted incidence in males was significantly higher, at 9.9 per 100 000, about 5 to 6 times higher than the incidence in females. The male-to-female ratio of 5.7:1 in this study is higher than the reported ratios of 2.2:1 to 4.2:1 in other case–control studies.2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 19 In the non–case–control literature regarding CSC, a higher male to

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Manuscript no. 2006-1399.

Supported in part by an unrestricted grant from Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc., New York, New York.

The authors have no proprietary interest in any aspect of the article.

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